It's Just Not Natural
by EbonyEye
Summary: A new village has been formed, and Team 7 is sent in to investigate. What awaits them is far more turbulent then they expected, and quickly goes out of hand. Info: Pairings, lots of OCs, going to be a longish fic! Enjoy!
1. Mission

**It's Just Not Natural**

by EbonyEye

Hey, there! _It's Just Not Natural _is a Naruto Fic that is going consist of multiple chapters, and it has some OCs. I have tried to form these OCs to fit like the original Naruto style, and I hope you like it!

Okay, the current situation is like this:

- Sasuke is still chasing around after Itachi with Team Hebi

- Akatsuki still has all its members

- Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke etc. are all around 24.

- Akatsuki are still busy capturing the tailed beasts

- Gaara is not Kazekage… just make up an imaginary one. Lol. He still has the Ichibi inside of him, too, making him a target of the Akatsuki

- And lastly… OUR DEAR PERVERTED SAN-NIN IS ALIVE! MUAHAHAHAHA!

Let the story begin! R&R! ENJOY!

**Chapter 1**

**Mission**

Location: Konohagakure

Sakura pushed herself out of her lab chair. She was absolutely dead on her feet, but she was extremely pleased with her day's work.

_Wow, I didn't imagine it would take that long. _She stretched, cracking her neck.

_**Don't blame the work – it's all your fault for staying so long.**_ Sakura's inner inserted snidely.

Sakura Haruno had just had a major change in her life about six years ago. And that change was a little sister called Nozomi.

The kunoichi glanced at the picture that stood on her desk. It showed herself and a little pink-haired baby, who had wide green eyes. The only difference was that Nozomi's pink was much, much darker than Sakura's, but her moss green eyes looked like they had been copied out of her older sister's face.

Smiling, Sakura packed up and rushed out of the lab.

She lived in a small apartment with Nozomi, ever since her mother had died three years ago. Her father was dead for a longer period of time, so that left Sakura Haruno with her little sister all alone.

Hurrying now, as it grew later and later, Sakura's shoes clattered on the pavement. She could see her building now, and it boosted her almost zero energy supplies.

Inside her apartment it was dark and quiet. Soundlessly slipping of her shoes, Sakura crept on tip-toes to Nozomi and her shared bedroom.

Her little sister looked like an angel, with her dark rose hair fanning out around her cute face. The brilliant emerald eyes were concealed behind closed lids and the steady rise and fall of her chest reassured Sakura that everything was how it should be.

The kunoichi smiled again, softly, and got ready for bed. Sadly, she made a bit too much noise, waking Nozomi.

"Saki?" The Hokage's apprentice turned at the sound of a cute little voice calling her name.

Nozomi sat, wide awake, on her bed and stared at her curiously.

"Why were you not home?"

Sakura sighed and sat next to her little sister.

"I had a lot of work, Zomi." She explained, ruffling the rose-coloured hair.

"'Ruto came by with Hinata and played with me." Nozomi smiled at the memory. They had had a ramen eating contest, and when Nozomi had lost, she had smashed the last bowl into Naruto's face. Hinata had giggled and commented that she was so like her older sister when it came to her temper.

Sakura stretched again and yawned.

"Was it fun?"

"Yes… well, I had fun! Naruto not as much." Nozomi giggled.

Her sister gently pushed her back down and said in a soothing, but firm tone:

"You should sleep now. I'm going too, so don't make any excuses. Tomorrow I have a day off from the hospital, so maybe we can go out with my team, okay?"

Nozomi's eyes widened at the promise, and at once, she dropped down and pretended that she was sleeping.

Sakura chuckled and went to her own bed. Moments later, there was not another sound to be heard.

"SAKURA-CHAN! NOZOMI-CHAN!"

The Haruno sisters groaned and covered their ears simultaneously.

_**I liked our ears the way they are. **_Inner Sakura muttered. Sakura couldn't help agree, though she knew that screaming loudly was just a part of who Naruto was.

"Ohayo, Naruto, Kaka-sensei, Sai!" Sakura beamed.

"Hello, Nozomi!" Naruto shouted again, swooping Sakura's little sister into the air.

"Hi, 'Ruto!" Nozomi grinned.

Kakashi waved from behind his lil' ol' book. Sai beamed a fake smile and added his customary greeting:

"Hey, Ugly; hey, Shorty."

"I am NOT short!" Nozomi yelled, banging on Naruto's arm to let her down, which he did hastily.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, the little rosette rushed over to Sai, meaning to kick him in the gems, then she stopped short.

Tilting her head, she chirped sweetly:

"Oh! Wait! It wouldn't hurt if I hit you there; Saki told me that you're dickless!"

"Okay, after lunch, I need to go see Tsunade." Kakashi announced as they sat in a row at the Ichiraku.

"Oh. Why?" Sakura asked, curious.

"She told me that we've got a mission… but it needs some explanation." Her sensei answered, finally putting down the orange book.

Both of them shot up as Naruto suddenly punched Sai.

In the face.

Nozomi was hunched up between them, covering her eyes with little hands.

"DICKLESS, SAKURA'S GONNA BE AFTER YOUR BALLS NOW!" Naruto roared.

"Huh?" The said kunoichi shot her little sister a confused look, who gave her a heartbroken glance back. Unshed tears trembled in the corner of her eyes.

At once, Sakura was on her feet, having put two and two together.

"SAI. WHAT. THE. HELL. DID. YOU. SAY. TO. MY. SISTER?"

Before the pale artist could answer, Kakashi said calmly:

"Sai, I would run. Like, right now."

*SPLAT*

"Too late." Sakura stated coolly, sending Sai flaying off his seat.

Astonished, Sai rubbed the red handprint on his face and asked, confused:

"What? I only told her that she was flat."

"SHE'S ONLY SIX YOU IDIOT!"

Team 7 had an unusually entertaining training practice. Nozomi, had watched, fascinated, and practiced her own moves while they duelled. She only had very basic moves, but considering that she was only 6, it was impressive.

"Saki! Look!" Happily, Nozomi called to her sister.

From the top of a tree.

Sakura beamed and called back:

"Good job! Now you can – " She was interrupted by Sai, who had used her distraction to come up close and try to disarm her.

She ended up pinned on the ground, eating dirt, while Sai twisted her arms.

"Ugly should pay attention to her surroundings." Sai said calmly, as if commenting on the weather.

"LET GO OF MY SISTER, YOU CASTRATED FUCKER! I'LL MAKE SURE THAT YOU'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO HAVE SEX YOUR WHOLE LIFE, STUPID ARTSY-FARTSY BITCH!" Nozomi screamed and launched herself at Sai. Taken by surprise, the pale artist fell backwards off of Sakura, landing on his butt.

Kakashi suddenly appeared out of no where, reading his porn, and asked:

"Sakura, where did your sister learn all of those colourful terms?"

"Fuck you, Sai." Sakura said, shooting a deadly glare at the said person.

"He swears too much when she's around. And he loves telling her stories about the male dick."

"I see." Kakashi raised an eyebrow and resumed reading.

After about two hours, Kakashi announced:

"Alright, I'm on my way to the Hokage." Tucking his orange book away, he added:

"Pray that I come back in one piece."

Sakura giggled at that, carrying Nozomi on one hip, and said:

"You should rather wish that she won't rip your porn to shreds, then burn the remaining pieces."

Kakashi clearly winced.

"Well… I'll die protecting it! That's why you should pray that _I_ come back in one piece, because if I don't, then my books will perish as well!"

Not waiting for any more of Sakura's terrifying suggestions, Kakashi hastily disappeared in a burst of smoke.

Naruto grinned widely and shouted:

"OKAY! Who's up for more ramen?"

"Finally! I'd thought you'd never show up!" The Godaime growled. She was slightly drunk, but at least still conscious enough to not smash her desk to splinters.

"Listen up, Hatake – there was a huge commotion near Mizu no Kuni three years ago. That's the village Haku came from, remember?" Tsunade waited for Kakashi to nod before going on.

"Anyhow, there was a major argument back then and a large piece of the population broke off and founded a new village. The problem was, was that the seven clans that live in the village, Izo, are extremely strong, from what I've heard. And it is rapidly expanding."

Kakashi's forehead furrowed and he asked:

"How large is the village?"

"Well… three years ago it was really small, but now it's almost over the average sized villages."

The copy nin rocked onto his heels, thinking.

If another village grew that rapidly in population, it would most definitely seek to join the circle of the five largest villages, among which is Konoha. And a new, strong village very well might unbalance the rest.

Kakashi sighed and grumbled:

"Can't the rest of the world handle itself, as soon as we turn out backs? They're acting like toddlers."

"Yes, Hatake, but now I am coming to my actual point. Team 7 is to go and investigate. I want you to go and stay there for a month, and talk to them. They have declared that they are peaceful to outsiders, and we will see to it that they keep their word.

"But if they prove hostile…" Tsunade's eyes slid down.

"You will have to fight your way out. For that purpose, I have arranged that Suna send a team of ninjas as well."

Narrowing his one visible eye, Kakashi questioned:

"And who would that team be?"

Now Tsunade smiled. Well, it more like a lopsided smirk that was twisted into a smile.

"Why, Sabaku no Gaara and his siblings. Who else?"

"Really? Great!" Sakura's eyes lit up as she heard from her new mission.

Her smile faltered, though, and a troubled look entered her eyes.

The copy nin look at her worriedly and asked:

"But…?"

"Well… I don't want to leave Nozomi alone." The pink haired kunoichi confessed.

"Couldn't you leave her with somebody? Ino… or Hinata perhaps?"

"Don't you think I've thought about that before?" Sakura snapped, worry making her impatient.

"It's just that _I_ don't want to be away from her." She explained, trying to cool off from her sudden outburst.

Kakashi understood and patted Sakura's hair as if she were 12 again.

"Don't worry – Konoha is a safe place." He promised gently.

The kunoichi nodded and grinned sheepishly. Tilting her head up to look at her sensei, she asked:

"So… do you think that Hinata would be capable of looking after Nozomi?"

"Sakura, Hinata has practically babysat her little sister, Hinabi, since she was very young. She's ideal with kids."

The Haruno thought for a second, then nodded.

"Okay. Hinata it is. Thanks, Kaka-sensei."

"Glad to help." Kakashi nodded briefly before going up in a cloud of smoke.

Sakura released a pent-up breath. A single thought burned in her mind:

_How am I going to break the news to Nozomi?_

Last time she had announced to her little sister that she was leaving, the younger Haruno had thrown a humongous fit.

_**Well, that's your own fault for not raising her better. **_Her inner commented snidely.

_Shut up. It's just as much your fault as mine. _Sakura snapped back.

_**Ooh, Sakura's getting F-E-I-S-T-Y! **_Her inner said in a sing-song voice.

Sakura chose to ignore the other voice in her head.

Her inner voice was a growing mystery. I mean, sure everybody has a good and bad 'voice', but not like Sakura. She seemed to have two people, almost exact opposites, inside her head. They looked the same, were the same height, age etc., but they had complete different personalities.

Over time, Sakura had learned to suppress the annoying inner, but it kept breaking through.

_Kami-sama, remind me why I have such a bitch inside of me. _Sakura groaned.

_**Bitch? Who're you calling a bitch?**_

"Just SHUT UP!" Sakura fairly shouted. Her inner chuckled, then retreated to a dark corner of their joint mind.

"I have other things to worry about, and a stupid inner malice is certainly NOT HELPING!" She growled to Inner Sakura.

_**Fine. How about you tell Nozomi that you're going away and never coming back?**_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARG!" Sakura's annoyed scream caused heads to turn outside on the street which she lived on.

"Nozomi…? Are you there?" Sakura called into Nozomi's closet. Well, at least it was supposed to be a closet, but the younger Haruno used it as a drawing room. Sheets of paper, parchment and hundreds of coloured pens littered the floor.

And in the middle sat Nozomi, carefully drawing something using a pencil.

"…?" She looked up, then beamed at her sister.

"Hi! What's up?" She bounced straight into Sakura and hugged her tightly.

Looking down at the mop of dark pink hair, the Hokage's apprentice felt her throat tighten. She didn't want to go away.

"Well… Nozomi, I have a mission. I'll be gone for two weeks." _**Maybe you'll be gone forever.**_ Inner Sakura cackled evilly.

Ignoring her inner, Sakura continued:

"I'll ask Hinata to take care of you while I'm gone, okay?"

"But I don't need a babysitter anymore!" Nozomi cried out. She let go of her older sister and crossed her arms, trying to stand as tall as possible.

Which wasn't that tall…

"She's not going to _babysit_ you, silly; she's going to _take care of you_. Those are two different things. Hinata-chan is our friend, and she's very nice to you, Nozomi."

The little rosette sighed and sat down again, pulling out her pencil.

"You're mean." Nozomi pouted.

Sakura had to smile and got on her knees next to her sister.

"No, I'm not. If you work hard and well, you'll become a ninja too. And then we might get a mission together."

Nozomi gave a small smile, yet it was a smile, and sighed:

"Okay. I'll be good."

Sakura hugged her sister once more, than said:

"I have to get ready and tell Hinata. I'll be back in about half an hour."

Nodding, Nozomi continued her drawing. Sakura glanced at it and saw the rosette pull out some coloured pencils, choosing a bright pink pen.

The Hokage's apprentice hurried to the Hyuuga compound, and knocked politely.

A servant appeared at the door and admitted her, announcing the arrival to Hyuuga Hiashi. Sakura gulped as she caught sight of the Hyuuga master. His stern face and pale eyes were enough to intimidate anybody.

"Ah, Haruno Sakura." Hiashi said. "I suppose you're here to speak to Hinata?"

"Yes, Hiashi-sama." Sakura answered politely.

The servant escorted her to Hinata's quarters. That's right – _quarters_. Hinata had a whole wing of the compound to herself.

_**Rich Bitch, Rich Bitch, Rich Bitch**_, Sakura's inner chanted meanly.

_This is the third time today that I have to tell you to shut it. _Sakura responded tiredly.

_**As if I'd listen**_. Right.

"S… Sakura-chan!" Hinata smiled. The Hyuuga heiress listened attentively to Sakura's request and said happily:

"Of course I'll take Nozomi! She's a good girl, you don't need to worry about that!"

The Haruno grinned and thanked Hinata multiple times.

She took her leave after a bit of gossiping with the Hyuuga, then she left, pleased with her success.

_Kami-sama, it's good to have friends. _She hummed.

**A/N**

Okay, I wonder if this chapter was too long… or stupid… or both. XD Please review and tell me what you think. I know the beginning was positively lame, but hopefully the next chappie won't bore the hell out of you.

See ya! Review, please!

- EbonyEye

PREVIEW CHAPTER 2:

_-__"Huh?" The blonde ninja questioned, still leaping through the trees. "What's wrong with asking if Sunagakure has ramen?"_

_-__"You slut! GIVE ME MY WATER BOTTLE BACK!" Suigetsu roared._

_-__**Give the player to your left a piggy back ride around the entire house.**_

_-"Is she really worth it?"_

"_Yes. That and more."_


	2. Strangers

**It's Just Not Natural**

by EbonyEye

Yay, Chapter 2! Hope you want to keep reading! R&R!

ENJOY!

**Chapter 2**

**Strangers**

Location: Near Sunagakure

"Kaka-sensei, how much farther?" Naruto asked impatiently. Man, he really didn't know what patience meant.

"I told you a minute ago, Naruto, we're almost there." The copy nin answered tiredly.

Sakura chewed on her lower lip as they sped through the trees. She couldn't stop worrying about Nozomi. After all, the pinkette only had her little sister left; her parents were dead along with some uncles and aunts.

_Maybe I'm being stupidly sentimental, but I want my family back. _She thought.

_**I have a solution: Sex.**_

_And who would be the father? _Sakura challenged her inner.

_**Pfft. Anybody. Obviously.**_

_Ew, no. I'm not gonna just bed somebody as long as their male._

_**Well, then quit complaining that you have no family.**_

Sakura ignored her inner, but it still stung. It was true, she was reaching a mature age, and she was single. Hell, she'd been single all her life, even when Sasu - *wince*. Sakura didn't let herself think of the name.

But nevertheless, unbidden memories flooded into her mind. Black eyes, black hair… black heart. He _had_ no heart, actually. He had had a hard childhood, okay, granted, but to push everything else away except his crappy revenge was wrong too.

Sasu… - Naruto and _the Uchiha_ had had almost the same situation. But they had chosen different paths. In her opinion, the Kyuubi container had made the right one. And the idiot of an Uchiha had only left broken hearts and sadness behind.

Well, he was and Uchiha. Aren't all Uchihas just idiots?

_**Not to mention hot**__**.**_ Inner Sakura chimed in.

Sakura's irritation boiled over at the little, stupid, utterly _moronic_ comment.

"SHUT UP!"

Sakura covered her mouth as soon as she realized that she'd yelled the words out loud.

Naruto, his mouth open from an incomplete sentence, stared at her incredulously, along with the rest of Team 7.

"Huh?" The blonde ninja questioned, still leaping through the trees. "What's wrong with asking if Sunagakure has ramen?"

"Oh, hehe, nothing!" Sakura rushed to explain herself, giving a fake smile.

Sai and Naruto turned away, but Kakashi watched his only female student's eyes darken as she thought of things unknown to him.

Although Kakashi didn't say it, he somehow knew that Sakura was thinking about a certain sharingan wielder. It had become an assumption that proved correct most of the times. Well, maybe she was thinking of a little rose-haired six-year-old… or maybe both.

Kakashi pondered Sakura's love history.

As far as he knew, she had only truly loved Sasuke Uchiha. She had been on a couple of dates with the local guys, but she never seemed happy with any of them.

But ever since Nozomi had entered her life, she had recovered somewhat from Sasuke's betrayal. The young Haruno had distracted her from her mourning, and given a new purpose to Sakura's life.

Kakashi stared ahead looking into the dark forest.

He did wonder about one thing, though.

_What has become of Sasuke?_

Location: Somewhere near Kumo, in Lightning Country

"You slut! GIVE ME MY WATER BOTTLE BACK!" Suigetsu roared, swinging his humongous blade at his redheaded teammate.

She ducked the first blow, then leaped over the second, clutching a bottle tightly in one hand.

"Come and get it, you moron!" She sniped, dodging another of his swings.

Suigetsu's face contorted somewhere between anger and disbelief. He prepared to deliver another lounge, but was stopped by a pair of swirling red eyes.

Karin likewise stopped short and whined:

"Sasuke-kun! We're just – "

"…"

"Okay, Sasuke-kun." She said meekly, seeking to hide from Sasuke's killing stare.

Suigetsu hastily slung his sword on its strap behind his back and backed a little bit away.

Team Hebi had just lost track of Itachi, which had the Uchiha in a particularly foul mood. How could it be that his bastard of an aniki always managed to slip away when they thought they had him for good?

Sasuke was perched on a wide tree branch, with one hand slung easily on a bent knee. His sharingan didn't seem to want to turn off as his irritation at the whole world pounded through his brain.

Pity anything… or anybody… that got on his nerves now.

Making sure not to make any noise, Suigetsu sidled up to Karin and pointed at the water bottle. She glared at him, tucking it further away into her pocket. His expression grew irritated and he pointed again, imperiously, and with a clearly firm gesture.

She smirked and shook her head.

The water nin bared his teeth angrily and gave her a threatening look.

Karin could barely contain her sadistic giggle as she slowly backed a couple of steps back.

The whole time, they didn't utter a peep. If somebody had been listening, this is what they would have heard:

*point*

"…"

*_point_!*

"…"

"…!"

"…^^…"

"GIVE IT BACK YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Suigetsu's sudden roar echoed in the dark woods as he charged the chakra-specialist.

His move surprised her and she quickly ducked to avoid him. However, she wasn't fast enough to completely evade his stab, and the bottle flew out of her pocket.

Scrambling on fours, she reached towards it, only to hear a kunai whizzing towards her. Jerking back, she didn't manage to pull her hand away in time before it bored through it, pinning it to the ground below.

Karin screamed as hot blood streamed from her injured limb.

Suigetsu took his chance to take another swing at her, but another dagger sliced a neat groove on his cheek.

Both nuke-nins froze, realizing that they had just committed suicide.

"Karin. Suigetsu. What did I say?"

Karin glared at the Uchiha, irritation making her reckless.

"Well, Sasuke-sama, you didn't actually say anything. You just stared at us."

"…"

His katana flashed through the air towards he throat, and she could pull back just in time. Not able to dodge it, though, it sliced cleanly through her glasses' bridge, severing it into two pieces.

"My patience isn't eternal. I will formulate my order clearly this time: Return Suigetsu's bottle and you two leave off from one another. Am I clear?"

The two Hebi members looked at each other nervously. Sasuke only spoke a lot when he was furious.

Like, _really_ furious.

They nodded in sync, bobbing their heads up and down so fast they looked like storks performing a mating dance.

Sasuke calmly turned away and disappeared up his tree again.

He knew that they'd stop their petty little quarrel. Because no one is ever…

…_ever_…

…stupid enough to mess with an Uchiha.

Location: Konoha

Nozomi woke to see the bed across the room empty. For a moment, she panicked, then remembered that her sister was going to be gone for 14 days.

14 days.

Her six-year-old mind saddened considerably as she slipped out of bed.

Toddling sleepily towards her drawing room, she checked again if she had done what she had meant to do.

Yes, the finished drawing of her and Sakura was not there.

The younger Haruno smiled as she remembered secretly tucking the picture into Sakura's pack when she hadn't been looking.

A soft knock on the apartment's door made her jump at least a foot into the air.

"Nozomi-chan? May I come in?" Hinata's voice came gently through the door.

"Coming!"

Hurriedly, Nozomi yanked open the door and beamed at the Hyuuga.

Hinata had two grocery bags with her and smiled at her friend's little sister.

"I thought that I'd cook here, than we can head over to my compound." She explained in her quiet manner, making her way towards the kitchen.

"Really? Great! I've never been to your house!" Nozomi raced at the Hyuuga heiress. She felt her dark, morbid thoughts dissolve slightly as she mapped out the rest of her day.

Hinata was busy measuring ingredients and starting up the stove while Nozomi bounced around happily, watching the recipe.

"What's that?" She asked enthusiastically, pointing.

Hinata giggled softly and answered:

"That, Nozomi, is flour."

"Flower? Are there any bees in it?"

"No, not _flower_; _flour._ And I certainly hope that there aren't any bees in here!"

"So what does _flour_ do?"

An hour later, Hinata arrived back at her compound with Nozomi in tow. The rosette fell silent as she beheld the magnificent clusters of houses and the breath-taking gardens.

"Kami, Hinata-chan, you must be rich!" Nozomi gasped in awe.

Hinata giggled and said:

"Well, the Hyuugas are an old and powerful family…"

"Powerful?"

"Yes, we have the Byakugan."

"AWESOME!… What's a Byakugan?"

"…"

Hiashi was a little surprised when he saw his eldest daughter come in with a young stranger. I say a little surprised, because Hiashi could mask emotions worthy of an Uchiha.

When Nozomi caught sight of the Hyuuga master, her large green eyes widened and she bowed so low that her short cute hair almost touched the ground.

"Are you Hyuuga-sama?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly.

After Hiashi's curt nod, she said: "Please to meet you, Hyuuga-sama. My name is Haruno Nozomi. My sister is on a mission and Hinata is spending time with me."

The stern Hyuuga bit back a smile.

"I see that Sakura-san has taught you good manners." He commented, the hard lines on his face softening a bit.

Nozomi tilted her head, looking cuter than an innocent angel.

"All right, off you go." His voice was gruff as he repressed any emotions.

His daughter beamed at him and said cheerfully:

"Thank you, father! Come, Nozomi, let's go to my quarters."

Hiashi watched the heiress to his family hurry away with a rosette bouncing happily after her. When they were out of sight, a miniscule smile lifted the corner of his lips.

"Ne, Hinata-chan, who's that?" Nozomi asked curiously, while Hinata was digging through a stack of her books, looking for something appropriate for the little Haruno to read.

"Who?"

Turning around, Hinata saw her cousin standing in the doorframe, regarding Nozomi with a slightly curious look.

"Oh, Nozomi, this is my cousin, Neji."

"Pleased to meet you, Hyuuga-san." Nozomi chirped, bowing.

Neji hid a smirk and he said:

"Nozomi-chan. Pardon me if I ask, but are you related to Sakura-san?"

Hinata tilted her head and asked:

"Don't you know?"

As her cousin shook her head, she realized:

"Oh, that's right, Sakura-chan never really showed her sister to anybody."

"Her… sister?"

Nozomi piped up:

"Sure! I'm Sakura's younger sister."

Neji looked at her cute child's face and grunted, turning to leave.

"Wait, Neji-sama!" The Hyuuga turned to see the little girl tugging on his shirt.

"Can you stay and play with us?" Nozomi pleaded, emerald eyes widening until it resembled a puppy look.

Hinata backed up Nozomi's begging, and Neji finally stayed. He couldn't feel annoyed, somehow, and he had to admit it was cute watching the little rosette play with his cousin.

At first he didn't want to participate in the ridiculous games, but then the two females convinced him into playing a board game.

And Neji had the _luck_ to land on the field with:

**Give the player to your left a piggy back ride around the entire house.**

Looking towards his left, he met a pair of innocent moss green eyes.

"All right." He sighed, then smirked.

Lifting the feather light Haruno onto his back, he used chakra to speed things up.

Nozomi screamed with enthusiastic fear as he suddenly accelerated, racing through the house barely visible.

Hiashi, who was just crossing the hallway to his study, paused and watched his nephew zoom around the corner, the six year old hanging on his back giggling/screaming, with his daughter racing after them, laughing.

Now _that_ was something you didn't see everyday at the Hyuuga compound.

Location: The new village Izogakure

Izo was a snowy village, no one could dispute that. Not with one and a half foot deep snow all around and flakes falling gently from the sky.

The village was covered in a blanket of snow, with a high wall around it. Two sentries were keeping a watch on the gate.

"Man, I hate sentry duty." One of them groaned. It was a tall, slender girl with spiked white hair. The strands reflected the light, rebounding in thousands of shimmering facets. Her hair was longer in the back, and a single strand of hair cut into her right eye. Eye colour: dark lime.

"Come on, you know our village is still scrambling to organize itself." Her duty partner muttered. He had the exact same kind of hair, except that it was only shoulder length in the back. His eyes were light lime.

"Then it should scramble faster and be done with it." She turned away, scanning the empty landscape yet again.

These two nins were twins, Mirai and Huyu Miyuki. They were both just turning 25.

Huyu shifted to see behind a couple of trees, brushing a strand of hair away that cut into his left eye.

"I wonder who leader-sama expects, considering that she's driving us so hard." Mirai sighed.

Her twin glanced up just in time to see two figures suddenly appear on the horizon.

"I think there's our answer." He said, pointing.

Mirai followed his finger, and wasted no time. Raising her arms, she uttered a piercing whistle.

Four snowy owls alighted, two gripping onto each arm, and in this fashion, flew the girl down.

The two strangers looked… peculiar. One, a woman, had dark purple hair, black eyelids and a paper rose fastened in her hair. The man had spiked orange hair, multiple piercings, and hypnotic red rings that spread out from his pupils. Both wore long black robes with red clouds patterned on them.

"Konichiwa." Mirai said as she gracefully landed. She made no attempt to shoo away the birds on her shoulders, and they just perched, watching.

"What brings you to Izogakure?" She asked nonchalantly. From the corner of her eye, she watched her twin jump down from the top of the wall, landing with a soft thump in the deep snow.

The woman said:

"We are here to visit the Sokage."

Mirai narrowed her eyes and she asked lowly:

"If this is about joining Izogakure back to Mizu no Kuni? If so, turn back and never try again."

"This is not about joining the two villages back together." The man spoke now. His face and voice were so devoid of any emotion, the hairs on the back of her neck raised in fear.

"We need to speak to Seiki-sama. Your leader." He continued.

Mirai stood frozen to a block of ice, and Huyu flashed next to her. He had to ignore the urge not to step in front of his sister to protect her from the orange-haired man cold stare.

His twin flashed him a dark look, as if she'd read his thoughts, and said in an annoyed voice:

"I'm not a baby anymore, Huyu."

Turning back to the strangers, she said reluctantly:

"All right. Come." Under her breath, she muttered:

"Although it's your fault if she kills you both."

Konan watched the twins turn and start to trek towards the village. Casting a glance at her leader, the paper nin asked quietly:

"Is she really worth it?"

"Yes. That and more." Pain said in a flat voice.

No more words were exchanged, but Konan caught a flash in her leader's eyes that told her that the Sokage was something important.

Very important.

"Sokage-sama?"

A lean figure sat behind a large table. The study was dark, and all you could see was the silhouette of Izo's kage. But you could tell from the shape and built that it was a woman.

"Yes, Mirai?" Her voice was flat and almost matched that of the orange-haired stranger.

"Me and Huyu have a pair of visitors. They wanted to talk with you urgently."

"Let them in."

Mirai nodded and bounded back outside, beckoning to the strangers. Behind her, she heard the kage say in a slightly amused voice:

"And please don't drop any more feathers."

The girl glanced behind her in surprise, which quickly changed into sheepishness. The four owls were still hanging onto her shoulders, and they had left a few white feathers in the Sokage's study.

Pain glanced at Konan, and they both stepped into the room.

The doors clanged shut behind them with an ominous boom.

Staring at the Sokage, Pain felt a brief flicker of unease when a pair of feral dark amethyst eyes bored into his.

"Master Kira Seiki. I hope the position of Sokage has you satisfied?" He asked in a slightly mocking voice. "I never knew that you could get this far. Kidnapping almost half of an entire village…!"

The kage narrowed her eyes into burning purple slits.

"Why, aren't you proud of me?" She retorted in a purring, honey-sweet and completely deadly tone.

"I thought you liked your students, _Pain-sensei_!"

**A/N**

So, whad'ya think? I'm DYING to know! And please note that if I'm dead, you will never…

…EVER…

…know what happens! MUAHAHAHAHA!

Review, _please_? *puppy eyes*

EbonyEye

PREVIEW CHAPTER 3:

_- __"Hey… is it just me, or is the entire island covered in snow?"_

"_Right, Ugly. You don't have enough imagination to come up with snow."_

"_SAI!"_

"_Okay, okay – yes, it's snowed in."_

_- "They're not weapons, silly!" Sakura called back, scooping up another handful. "They're snowballs!"_

_- That orange book… she'd seen it before…_

_- "Ah, I see. Would you like to borrow it?"_

"_YES!"_

Hope you're eager to keep reading!


	3. Alliance

**It's Just Not Natural**

by EbonyEye

xxx

Thank you for the reviews! I know, they're anonymous, buy hell, I don't give a damn about that part. :D *screams louder than Naruto* REVIEWS MAKE ME HAPPY!

I've been trying out different spacers, so now I've settled on three 'x's. Please tell me via review if they're okay, or if they bother you! Thanks!

Enjoy!

xxx

**Chapter 3**

**Alliance**

Location: Sunagakure

xxx

"GAARA-SAN!"

Sakura winced as Naruto's obnoxious voice made her ears ring, but she smiled nevertheless. It was hard to be mad at a person when that person was happy.

Gaara greeted them with one of his rare smiles and nodded towards.

He had his siblings were all ready to go, with packs and gear all strapped on.

The Konoha nins stopped in front of the sand siblings and exchanged polite greetings.

"Okay, let's gooooooooo!" Naruto yelled enthusiastically.

_Kami – Naruto is 24, right?_

_**Good lord, he can be even worse than Nozomi!**_

And so the seven-some began their long journey north towards Izo.

"Sakura?"

"Hm?" Sakura turned to see Temari leaping from branch to branch in sync with herself. Over the years, the pink haired Konoha nin had made friends with the feisty Sand nin.

"I heard from Sai back there that you've got a sister." Temari commented, gesturing behind them.

"Oh. Yeah." Sakura smiled and frowned kind of at the same time, making her face twist into a lopsided expression.

Temari laughed at her, but asked gently:

"What's wrong? You look… worried."

"I _am_ worried." Sakura sighed, staring into the trees.

"I left her with Hinata for the time being, yet I can't help worrying about her."

"What's she look like?"

This wrung a grin out of the Haruno.

"Exactly like I did when I was six – except that her hair is darker than mine."

The other kunoichi giggled and asked:

"Pink, too?"

"Yep."

They laughed together for a while, only to have to brake suddenly in mid air to avoid colliding with Gaara in front of them.

"What the FUCK, Gaara?" Temari snapped.

Before her brother could say anything, Kakashi said in a cheerful voice:

"We're stopping here for the night. And Sakura?"

"Hai, Kaka-sensei?"

"Try not to worry too much about Nozomi." Her sensei reproached her gently and completely un-Kakashi-like.

"… Hai."

_**FUCK, he heard us talking with Temari! Such an eavesdropper!**_

_Exactly what I thought._

_**Bull shit.**_

They soon had a fire going and sleeping rolls spread out. The sky grew dark and stars popped out, and Naruto and Sai argued about the different constellations.

Naruto was extremely proud that he could find the Big and Little Dipper, while Sai commented that they looked like dicks. Whereupon Naruto had almost murdered Sai and Sakura had threatened to punch him so hard that he'd forget what ramen is.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, that's mean." The foxy ninja whined.

Sakura shrugged, staring into the writhing flames.

She could never look at any type of fire without thinking of… him. She winced, cussing inwardly.

_Stupid girl, don't think about him._

_**Sasuke Uchiha, Sasuke Uchiha, Sasuke Uch – **_

_Just shut your big fat mouth, okay? Or I swear that I'll __get Tsunade to create a jutsu to remove you._

_**No need, I'll always return! You do know that I came from you, right?**_

_Well, crap, so you mean you kinda split off of my __sane mind?_

_***applauds***_

"Sakura-san?" The pink haired kunoichi looked up in surprise.

Sabaku no Gaara stood next to her, arms crossed. Casting a glance around the campsite, Sakura realized that everybody had gone to bed except for her and the Ichibi container.

"Yes, Gaara-san?"

"You looked like you were worrying about something." Gaara frowned.

Sakura stared at him, looking through her Inner's eye. She had been caught up thinking about Sasuke, that she automatically scanned Gaara like the pervert her Inner was.

She had to admit – Gaara was cool.

"No… I guess I'm just bitter about my past." She sighed reluctantly.

"…?" Gaara unslung his sand jar, and sat down next to her, likewise staring into the flames.

"Gaara…" Sakura suddenly felt the need to talk to somebody other than Temari… or Naruto… or anybody else.

"Have you ever loved somebody? Like, _really_ loved somebody?"

"…" The Sand ninja was silent for a while, gazing thoughtfully and, Sakura thought, a little wistfully into the fire.

"No." He finally admitted. "You have to remember, Sakura, that love is still quite new to me."

"…" Now Sakura was quiet. She tilted her head upwards, looking at the stars. It didn't help; she still saw the pair of feral red eyes that haunted her memory bitterly.

"Why did you ask?" Gaara questioned, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes.

She released a choked laugh and whispered:

"Because I love somebody whose influence is bad for me."

"Who?"

"… Do you remember a certain Uchiha you fought against at the Chunin tests?"

"Oh… him?" Gaara turned slightly and examined the girl, whose cheeks were as pink as her hair now.

"Yes." She muttered, not meeting his gaze.

He pressed his lips into a thin, white line and said nothing.

Sakura hat her eyes fixed upon a particularly bright star, so she wasn't prepared to feel the warm roughness that suddenly enveloped her hand.

Startled to looked into a pair of aqua eyes, rimmed with tired lines.

"You will find the right one in the end." Gaara smiled slightly. "You are unique and beautiful, Sakura, you won't be alone for longer. Remember, I never thought that love and affection could find me, yet in the end, even I was brought back into the light."

"…" She smiled too, looking down at his hand over hers.

"Everything will be right in the end." He promised, withdrawing his hand.

xxx

Location: Izogakure

xxx

A look of surprise crossed Konan's face before she could stop it.

Pain-_sensei_?

The leader of Akatsuki stepped forward with narrowed eyes:

"Surely, then, dearest student, you can guess why I am here."

"Of course, sensei, you need Izo's support, is it not so?"

"…"

The Sokage grinned, triumphant when Pain didn't answer.

"Thought so. Well, I need a bit of time to – "

"No. State your decision here. Now."

The kage flashed a defiant look at Pain and stood up. She wasn't that tall, actually, but slender.

"Listen here, sensei, in this time and place, _I_ go around making the decisions of who, when and where. Understand?"

"I am not negotiating."

She narrowed her eyes, engaging in a staring contest with one of the most feared nuke-nins in history.

"But I am. I will think carefully about… what you are asking of me. I am a Sokage now, and I have at least a couple hundred of people underneath my guidance. I know you may not believe it, _Pain_, but I am not some naïve girl anymore. I am taking care of _lives_. They _trust_ me."

"I understand that. But do not tarry too long."

"Fine." The kage said shortly.

"Mirai?" She called in a commanding tone.

The owl girl hurried in and tilted her head, waiting for orders.

"Take Master Pain and Miss Konan to an inn. Specifically, 'The Fireplace Front'. It is the best one around here and I will not tolerate less."

"Yes, Sokage-sama."

xxx

Location: Lightning Country

xxx

Sasuke stared out across the water.

Team Hebi was at the ocean shore of Lightning Country, and this is where they had previously lost Itachi's trace.

Fighting the urge to engage sharingan, the Uchiha turned away with a disgusted expression.

"Are you sure you can't find him?" He demanded shortly from Karin.

"N… No. Sasuke-kun." She said, her eyes focused on the sand of the beach.

Sighing, he grunted:

"Hn. Let's head towards the most likely place he would go. Karin?"

"Well… that way." She pointed.

"Hn. Why's he heading for Konoha again?"

xxx

Location: Izogakure

xxx

The combined Konoha and Suna nins were glad when they finally saw the shore of the island where Izogakure was.

"Finally!" Kankuro grumbled, adjusting the puppet on his back.

Temari was 'cheating', gliding along on her fan.

The older Haruno slowed, her steps falling less frequently on the water's surface, as she stared at the island.

"Hey… is it just me, or is the entire island covered in snow?"

"Right, Ugly. You don't have enough imagination to come up with snow."

"SAI!"

"Okay, okay – yes, it's snowed in."

The sentries read through the mission scrolls and admitted them. The Izo nins gave them a wary glance, though, and somehow Sakura felt that something was wrong about the whole thing.

Like, the whole village.

"Okay, we need to report to the Sokage first." Kakashi said, steering towards a snow-covered mansion with about five stories.

_Wow, this is quite pretty_. Sakura commented, eyes trailing over the picturesque landscape blanketed in soft white snow.

_**Yeah, until you freeze your**__** ass off.**_

Sakura's eyes widened as she observed Temari tentatively push a pile of snow with her foot. Her eyes were confused and somehow bemused.

The pink haired kunoichi realized the reason right away:

"Hey, have you guys ever seen snow?"

Temari, Kankuro, and yes, even Gaara jumped and blushed with embarrassment.

"Um… we've heard about it." Kankuro mumbled.

"And seen pictures." Temari put in.

"But we've never actually seen any." Gaara concluded.

Sakura pressed her lips together to keep herself from giggling.

"Okay, since you're new with snow, you need an introduction."

The Sand siblings stared, confused, and suddenly, all three found a snowball making its way to kiss them in the face.

"Hey!" Temari yelled, scrambling around to dodge.

"You didn't tell us you can make them into weapons!"

"They're not weapons, silly!" Sakura called back, scooping up another handful.

"They're snowballs!" She cried, launching another one at Kankuro.

Soon they were in the middle of a huge snowball fight. Temari was flinging a dozen snowballs at the same time with her fan, Kankuro's puppet supplied him with defence, and Gaara stared impassively as the white balls impacted harmlessly on his sand.

Naruto hurried to join in, laughing and yelling and laughing some more until he got a snowball in his mouth.

"HAHA, I GOT HIM! RIGHT IN THE KISSER!" Temari roared with laughter, pointing at the blonde ninja's face.

Kakashi and Sai watched, open shock on their faces.

"OKAY, STOP ACTING LIKE A BUNCH OF SNOT-NOSED BRATS AND GET TO THE DAMN SOKAGE'S OFFICE!" Kakashi finally bellowed.

When nobody listened, he sighed and pulled out a novel.

He didn't get to read in peace, though, as a snowball flew straight into the book covers, efficiently soaking it through and through.

Slowly, Kakashi's face rose from behind the destroyed porn book.

"Who. Threw. That. Snowball." Came his deadly demand.

Nobody said anything. All of the sudden, everything was awfully quiet.

"Come on! Who threw the DAMN SNOWBALL?" The copy nin bellowed.

The younger ninjas scattered in all directions, leaving one person standing there.

"Gaara. You are going to buy me this book. You are going to say that you are sorry for destroying my literature. You are going to FUCK THE DAMN HELL OF A SNOWBALL FIGHT!"

Kakashi was so upset, tears were starting to stream down his one visible eye, and a wet trace soaked through his mask, showing that his other eyes was tearing up too.

Gaara stared at him with emotionless aquamarine eyes.

"AND THIS WAS AN ORIGINAL COPY, SABAKU!"

Kira Seiki stood at the window of her study. She could see the troop of Konoha and Suna ninja outside that the Hokage had sent to talk with her.

Needless to say, they were acting like morons.

_And I have to deal with them?_ She groaned.

If you looked at Kira, you had to admit that she was… beautiful. Just under the average of a woman of 27, she was long, lean and pale. Her eyes were a dark amethyst and her hair was… white. Yes, white. It shifted in colour with every move she made, with crystalline rainbows shattering off of the silky strands. Her mouth was usually in an emotionless line, but she allowed herself a smirk as she continued to watch the rambling snowball fight near her study. The captain of the team was screaming at a red haired boy/man and waving an orange book around –

Wait! Kira couldn't believe her eyes.

That orange book… she'd seen it before…

Groaning, the kage mentally facepalmed. It was probably a new Icha Icha series. She was familiar with those books, since Mamoru, her teammate, read them.

_Damn… how can those books still be on the market?_

"**SHUT UP AND PAY ATTENTION!**" Kakashi bellowed. He was so furious, everybody held stock-still and shut up.

"We're going to see the Sokage. Understood?" He snapped.

"Yes, sir!" They answered in sync, not daring to move a muscle.

"Right, now go!" He ordered, face dark with the loss of his precious book.

They made their way up to the highest story, passing dozens of securities. When they finally came to stand in front of Sokage's door, Kakashi said, having calmed down a bit:

"Okay, everybody be quiet and polite. We want her to have a good impression."

The door opened with a quiet creaking noise and the seven ninjas stepped into the study.

Sakura's eyes widened.

The Sokage was definitely young. Probably no older than 30. Her face was smooth and pale, impassive purple eyes, and long hair that covered her right eye.

"Welcome, Konoha and Suna." She greeted formally, nodding at them.

"Sokage-sama." They bowed.

"I hope your impression of Izogakure is favourable?" She inquired.

"It is a very beautiful village." Kakashi answered honestly.

The kage smiled.

"That pleases me to hear."

After a short silence, Gaara spoke up:

"Sokage-sama, may I ask what your name is?"

"Seiki Kira." Her pristine amethyst eyes flickered to stare into Gaara's aqua ones.

"From your appearance, you must be Sabaku no Gaara, correct?" She asked tonelessly.

He nodded, concealing his surprise.

She turned towards the blonde Kyuubi container and asked:

"And you are – "

"UZUMAKI NARUTO, FUTURE HOKAGE AND RAMEN LOVER, AT YOUR SERVICE!" Naruto bellowed.

Sakura and Temari flinched, and before Naruto could blink, they had both bonked him atop the head.

"Sorry." Naruto said sheepishly, rubbing the two lumps on his head.

Kira chuckled softly, her gaze straying towards Sakura. Her eyes narrowed and Sakura forced herself not to avert her gaze from the dark amethyst ones.

"Which Clan are you?" The kage asked suddenly.

"Haruno. Haruno Sakura, my name." Sakura replied cheerfully.

Kira's eyes flew wide in shock, breaking her stern and self-controlled impression.

"H… Haruno?" She repeated softly.

"Yes."

Purple eyes closed as she leaned back into her chair. Then she shook herself, as if ridding her of an annoying thought, and said:

"Yes, well, I hope that you can all enjoy your stay here in Izo. Feel free to tour the village and find an inn to stay in. You are dismissed."

As the ninjas filed out of the room, Sakura glanced back to see Kira get up and pace around, looking highly disturbed.

_What's wrong with being a Haruno?_ Sakura wondered, frowning.

And for once, her inner didn't reply.

"Man, she's H-O-T." Kankuro grinned, receiving a nudge in the ribs from Temari.

"How old do you think she is? 30 or something?" Naruto questioned as well.

"Younger." Everybody turned to gape at Sai.

"She's around 28… maybe even younger."

"How do you know?" Sakura demanded from the pale artist.

"I just can see it, Ugly." He answered shortly.

"But if she's so young, how come she's the kage?" Temari inquired, puzzled.

"Because she's incredibly strong." Came the answer.

Shocked, the Konoha and Suna nins whirled around to find a man behind them. His hair was light blue, as were his eyes, and he was busy reading a book.

An _orange_ book.

A _very familiar_ orange book.

"AH! PERVERTED SHINOBI!" Naruto screeched, pointing.

Puzzled, the man look up.

"Hm? Perverted shinobi? Where?" He looked every which way.

"Uh, hehe, that's just Naruto's term." Sakura said sheepishly. "We're from – "

"Konoha and Suna, I know."

The stranger ninjas raised their eyebrows. How could he know?

"I'm in the Sokage's team. She told me." He explained.

"Huh? But kages can't go out of the village!" Kankuro pointed out.

"Not here." The other man answered cheerfully. "Izo's kage can come and go whenever she likes. Please, my name's Takeshi Mamoru."

"Mamoru-san, pleased to meet you." Kakashi said, eyes riveted on the book in Mamoru's hand.

"Is that the new Icha Icha copy, 'Nocturnal Strategies' Number 23?" He questioned with barely restrained excitement.

"Yes, it is. Why?" Mamoru asked, puzzlement on his face.

"Well… because my team here" *glare* "destroyed my copy."

"Ah, I see. Would you like to borrow it?"

"YES!" Kakashi squealed, snatching the book that Mamoru offered to him. He instantly tucked it safely away and bowed so low that his hair touched the snow.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Bowing again and again, Sakura noted that her sensei looked like a chicken.

No, make it a rooster – Kakashi's hair resembled that more.

Mamoru grinned and said:

"No problem. Now, where are you guys headed?"

"Just to tour the village and look for a place to stay."

"Excellent! I know the best place for you!"

"What's that?"

"The inn 'The Fireplace Front'!"

"Pain." Konan's soft voice was enough to alert the Akatsuki leader. He quickly located the source of her unease:

"What are _they_ doing here?" Konan groaned.

Four Konoha ninjas had just walked in, accompanied by three Suna nins.

And among them were the Ichibi and the Kyuubi.

Pain sighed.

"At least they can't do anything about us here." Pain said, a dangerous smirk twisting his lips into a sinister imitation of a smile. Turning his head slightly, he caught the eyes of a man sitting in the corner of the lobby.

A man with an orange-spiralled mask.

"Don't worry, Konan, we've got _Uchiha Madara_."

xxx

**A/N**

As usual: Reviews? Please? *beg beg beg beg beg* Do you like how it's going? Too many OCs? Too boring? ANYTHING? :O

- EbonyEye

PREVIEW CHAPTER 4:

_- __"… I told you, Kisame, I left it in Konoha."_

_- "Then get there quick, yeah, Tobi." Deidara snapped. "Leader-sama might decide he likes you better beheaded, yeah."_

_- "But what would she look like?"_

"_Easy. Pink hair or green eyes… by the name of Haruno."_

"_What exactly is this Haruno g__irl good for?"_

"_She has a rare… ability. One that will mess with our plans."_


	4. Truth

**It's Just Not Natural**

by EbonyEye

xxx

X-tra long chappie for you guys! Enjoy!

xxx

**Chapter 4**

**Truth**

Location: At the boarder between Oto and Fire Country

xxx

Karin scowled. She'd patched up her glasses as well as possible, but still, they hung slightly crookedly from the tip of her nose.

_Whatever. I'll still win Sasuke-kun's heart._ She sniffed.

They were trooping through the woods near Otogakure, and all four were getting involuntary flashbacks. Sasuke tamped down his memories tightly, distracting himself by looking for any trace of Itachi's chakra.

_If he's not here, where could he be? _He asked himself, annoyed.

Just as he was about to turn his sharingan off, he sensed the tiniest hint possible of his brother's chakra.

"This way." Without waiting for his team, the younger Uchiha sprinted off towards the chakra signature.

Karin snarled as Suigetsu bumped into her in their hurry to keep up with their captain. She could sense Itachi too, now, and his idiotic shark partner.

Team Hebi waited, breathless, in the cover of some trees with their chakra absolutely covered. They didn't have to wait long.

Two robes with red cloud prints emerged on the other side of the clearing.

Itachi and Kisame.

They were talking quietly about something, and Team Hebi strained their ears to catch the soft words.

" – leader-sama ordered us." Itachi said quietly.

"Yeah, well, now we need to travel all the way to the new village? What's so special about a single fighter?" Kisame complained.

"…"

"Okay, okay, say no more." Kisame said in a half annoyed, half amused tone. "Say, did you bring the scroll with you?"

Sasuke's interest pricked as he heard the mention of a 'scroll'.

"… I told you, Kisame, I left it in Konoha." Itachi reminded his partner with annoyance thick in his usually emotionless voice.

_In Konoha?_ Sasuke's mind starting spiralling. What if the scroll held valuable information? Obviously enough to have the two Akatsukis need it.

"Then why aren't we heading over there right now? Are you just lazy or what?" Kisame muttered, earning a killing glance from Itachi.

"We are to stay here until we receive orders telling us otherwise." The elder Uchiha stated coolly.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. This was his chance to –

"Yeah, Itachi, Kisame, sorry that we're late, yeah." A voice cut in.

Sasuke's nose crinkled in annoyance as he watched two more people enter the clearing. When the two newcomers took off their straw hats, the younger Uchiha recognized them in a flash.

But weren't they supposed to be dead?

"Deidara, Tobi." Itachi nodded at them.

"Itachi-sempaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Tobi enthusiastically jumped up and down.

"Quit it, Tobi, you'll rouse up all of Water Country like this, yeah." Deidara complained.

"So? I have to go now, anyways!"

"Where?"

"Back to leader-sama! Pain-sempai summoned me!" Tobi pranced like an excited puppy.

"Then get there quick, yeah, Tobi." Deidara snapped. "Leader-sama might decide he likes you better beheaded, yeah."

Sasuke silently watched their exchange and weighed up the odds.

It didn't stand very well for him.

Four against four. He remembered Deidara's strength, which had almost killed him once. And his brother – no, forget it.

Well, it wasn't like Sasuke cared about his own team that much, but he wasn't willing to give them up that easily. If they engaged the Akatsuki members right here and now, most likely they would all end up beheaded or – Sasuke caught sight of Zetsu lurking underground – eaten.

Four against five.

"What do we do now, leader-sama?" The captain of Team Hebi turned to face Juugo, Suigetsu and Karin.

"… Hn. We're leaving."

"What?" Team Hebi seemed aghast.

"But we finally found Itachi!" Karin protested.

"Aa, and we are outnumbered."

Karin shut her mouth slowly.

"So… now what?" Suigetsu inquired, eyes flickering to stare longingly at Kisame down in the clearing.

"Hn. Konoha."

xxx

Location: Izogakure

xxx

"Madara. Glad that you're back." Pain muttered under his breath to the masked ninja who seated himself across the table from him.

"How did it go?" The Rin'negan wielder asked.

"… Badly." Madara sighed. "Itachi had left the scroll in Konoha a long time ago."

"We need that scroll…" Konan pressed her lips into a thin line.

Pain was sunk deep into thought. Suddenly he said flatly:

"No, we don't."

"…?" The two other Akatsuki members looked at him questioningly.

"Does the girl have any family connections?" Pain asked.

"… Not that I know of." Madara answered, frowning.

"Well, then go and fine if she does."

"But what would they look like?"

"Easy. Pink hair or green eyes… by the name of Haruno." Pain said slowly, as if explaining something to a toddler.

Uchiha Madara narrowed his eyes at Pain's patronizing tone and said:

"Sorry. Playing Tobi is starting to rub off on me."

Konan's eyes flickered from Pain to Tobi, then back to Pain again.

"What exactly is this Haruno girl good for?" She asked warily.

"She has a rare… ability. One that will mess with our plans." Pain said tonelessly.

"Oh, so that's why we need Kira?" Konan started to understand.

"Yes."

"What kind of ability is this?"

"We don't know the exact mechanics of it – that's why we need the damn scroll." Madara growled.

"Do you think she knows of it herself?"

"Possibly not."

Konan nodded, satisfied, and inquired:

"All right, so who should fetch it?"

"I will." Pain and Konan glanced at the Uchiha.

"I know the compound the best." Madara pointed out.

"… Agreed. And if you happen to meet anybody who is close to her… take her along."

Madara's sharingan eye appeared and the menacing tomoes spun.

"Of course."

Standing and turning towards the exit, he murmured dangerously:

"Ready or not, here I come, _Haruno Sakura_."

xxx

"Ne, Sakura-chan, let's have another snowball fight!"

The pink haired kunoichi looked up and shook her head. She was busy unpacking her belongings and stowing them away into the closet. Her room in the inn was spotless… something that Naruto would never, ever manage.

The Kyuubi container huffed and left, heading for Gaara and Kankuro's room. Maybe they would have a snowball fight with him.

Sakura sighed as her door clicked shut. Whenever she was alone, her thoughts wandered to people she didn't really want to think about at the moment.

_Oh Nozomi… How are you doing? _She wondered.

'_**Oh, Nozomi…!'**_ Her inner echoed in a mocking tone.

_Shut up. You know that she's just as much as your sister as she is mine._

_**Hai, hai… I wonder if she has two minds as well?**_

Sakura groaned.

_Gods spare her from such torture._

_**Huh?… Hey! Was that an insult?**_

The Haruno grinned as her inner began to rant that she didn't appreciate having an inner. Blocking the complaints as well as she could, Sakura continued unpacking.

Just as she was reaching for a stack of shirts, her searching fingers met the dry rustling of paper.

Confused, she pulled out a rather crinkled sheet of paper.

Two people were standing there, holding hands. They both had pink hair, though they were different shades, and large green eyes.

Sakura felt tears creep into her eyes and hastily rubbed them. She couldn't help it though, and soon tears were leaking down her face.

Smiling, she read her sister's shaky handwriting:

**I love you, Saki.**

xxx

Kira walked through the streets of Izo. The civilians parted to let her pass, murmuring polite greetings.

They knew very little about their Sokage. But every single person in the village trusted her in an odd, respectful way.

Kira Seiki's purple eyes wandered among the buildings. It had been a huge struggle to break free from Mizu no Kuni. She remembered it all: struggling to find an empty place to settle into, struggling to earn their title as a full village… and Kira's personal struggle with her bastard of a leader.

The Seiki Clan had a famous bloodline limit. But it only showed up in rare cases, and disaster always followed inside the family. There was a certain natural curse that came inevitably with the ability.

But this time, the disaster hadn't just shown up within the family, but it spread through to a lot of other clans.

It was called jealousy.

Kira walked past all the people and finally came to her goal: the mountain which shielded the village's north side.

Climbing the snowy sides, Kira didn't mind the biting cold. She came from a snowy village, and certainly wasn't bothered by the cold element. All she wore was a shirt and a pair of knee-shorts. No shoes were needed.

When the Sokage reached the top of the mountain, she said on the snow, not minding getting her ass soaked.

Closing her eyes, she remembered that fatal day…

_**Flashback**_

_Kira detested her village's leader. He actually didn't carry the right to be called a leader. Ryoma had killed and backstabbed his way all the way to the top where he managed to remain using treachery and low tricks._

_When Kira turned 15__, her bloodline limit had kicked in. The Seiki Clan measured their kekkai genkai with five levels, and Kira had the top one._

_Of course, this powerful ability roused fear, old hatreds and jealousy around the entire village._

_And Ryoma soon heard of it. He was constantly plotting a way to politically get rid of Kira, yet she always managed to slip out of even the tightest spots with the help of her team._

_Finally, Ryoma had enough._

_Kira was summoned to his headquarters, which looked more like a fortress than anything else. Hundreds of guards were always patrolling the area._

_She was admitted into Ryoma's innermost study, where he awaited her with a slimy smile._

"_Ah, dearest Kira. You are well, I take it?"_

"_Fine, leader-sama." She responded sarcastically._

"_Now now, no need to be saucy." He shook a mocking finger at her._

"_All right, down to business. You are probably wondering why I summoned you, right sugarplum?"_

"…"

"_Well, I want to inform you that you are officially banned from the village."_

"_WHAT?" Kira couldn't believe her ears, staring at Ryoma blankly for a second._

"_Yes, sweetheart, you have to leave… unless you give me your bloodline limit." He smirked._

'_So that's what he's playing at!' Kira thought, glowering at him with hatred clear in her amethyst eyes._

"… _No." She stated flatly._

_Ryoma raised an eyebrow, and suddenly__ ordered:_

"_Guards!"_

_The doors flew open, and a stream of shinobi poured into the study, armed, silent and deadly._

"_Take her. Alive."_

_Kira didn't know how many times she narrowly avoided getting captured, yet she only felt a dull throbbing at the base of her skull. She dodged countless blows, delivered an incredible amount of injuries herself, until she finally stood, panting, in a pool of the guard's blood._

_Corpses littered the floor, and Ryoma was no where to be seen._

"_Come out, Ryoma-teme!" She roared, punching a nearby wall. It shattered, pieces of stone, wood and plaster sliding to the floor._

_Ryoma's voice droned out of a loudspeaker mounted on the wall._

"_Listen up, Seiki. Fighting against your leader has its costs. You pay bitterly for your mistakes."_

"_Try and make me." She challenged the speaker._

"_Oh, you have already. Note that the guards all have henges."_

_Horrified, Kira stared. In her rush, she hadn't noticed that the guards indeed were disguised._

_Lower lip trembling, she breathed 'Kai', only to freeze in horror as she saw who she'd murdered:_

"_BASTARD!" She screamed to no where in particular._

"_WHY DID YOU SEND MY FAMILY?"_

_At her feet lay the silent corpses of the Seiki Clan._

_xxx_

_She passed through the streets, a pack slung over her shoulder. A film of tears made it hard to see, and she blinked back the urge to engage her kekkai genkai. Sadly, the tears weren't enough to blur the image of the gate, open, waiting for her to pass through only to close as soon as she was outside._

_Ryoma had ordered every member of Mizu no Kuni to watch her depart. The stood along the side of the street, silent and mournful._

_Heat build up behind Kira's eyes._

_There was hardly a person who didn't hold a grudge against Ryoma, though they dared not to intervene. Ryoma wasn't good at offensive jutsus or anything, but he could escape from impossible places and catch you off guard._

_Taking a deep breath, Kira arrived at the gates. She stood in the archway, shoulders heaving. A guard decided to try slamming the gate in her back, but pivoted and struck it just as it swung close, shattering the sturdy wood._

"_Listen up, everybody!" Kira desperately voiced her accuse._

"_Who here knows why I'm being banished?"_

_Low murmurs ran through the crowd, but nobody answered. Just as she'd thought, Ryoma hadn't told anybody._

"_Okay, then let me tell you: I'm being banished because he tried to steal my bloodline limit and failed to do so!"_

_Stunned silence muted the murmurs._

_Suddenly, outraged cries filled the air._

"_He killed my husband!" A woman's voice rang out._

"_The bastard took my home!" An old man rasped loud enough to hear._

"_He's mistreated us from the very start!" Am shinobi shouted._

_Kira smiled grimly._

"_I say that whoever wants to come with me, then do so right now!"_

_Silence._

"_Come on, would you rather stay here with Ryoma-teme?"_

"_No." The crowd muttered._

_Just then, a single figure emerged from the throng, his pale blue eyes shining._

"_Of course I'm coming, you stupid baka!" Mamoru panted, hair messed up._

_Somebody cannoned into Kira's side, and the Seiki's purple eyes were countered with dark lime._

"_We're coming!" Huyu stated firmly, coming up as well._

_The three shinobis' announcement sent a wave of movement through the people. Entire families started to move towards her._

_Kira quickly counted the Clans, and was pleased to see that six Clans were going to follow her, including the Miyukis and Takeshis (Mirai/Huyu's and Mamoru's family)._

_Suddenly, the procession was disturbed by Ryoma pushing his way forward._

"_What's this?" He screamed._

"_We're leaving." Was Kira's statement._

_Ryoma spluttered something unintelligible._

_Taking that as no answer, Kira turned and started off into the wilderness, while Ryoma watched with horror._

_He could do nothing to stop them, coward as he was._

_xxx_

_Kira did not immediately become Sokage – a different, older, more experienced shinobi became leader first. But after that man died from a wound he had received, the new village, Izo, voted for her to be Sokage._

_She had accepted, and currently held the position with a feeling of responsibility._

_**End of Flashback**_

"Ah, Kira. How is my former apprentice doing?" A toneless voice woke her from her memories.

Looking up, she glanced into Pain's Rin'negan eyes. She did not fear him – she wasn't that much weaker than he was. Even if he managed to kill her in a fight, she could still cripple him severely.

"Thinking about… my past."

Pain stood behind her, waiting for her to continue as she stared down into her village.

When she didn't continue, he asked nonchalantly:

"So… have you made up your mind?"

"… No." Her pupils reacted strangely to the Akatsuki member's impatient and rude tone, growing ragged around the edges and dilating.

Restraining a growl, he demanded:

"Why?"

"I keep thinking what's best for me… and what's best for my village. My family was taken away, and I love this village with all the love that should have been used on my parents and siblings." She said quietly.

"If I promise Izo to your aid, _sensei_, then people are going to die, correct?"

"…"

"Thought so." She sighed.

"Kira." He said. "All I need is that you shelter a couple of people from the Akatsuki. No more, no less."

She stared at the peaceful, snowy village below her. Keeping a few nuke-nin would not unbalance things too much…

"How many?" She asked abruptly, giving in.

"At least five or six."

Kira took a deep breath, looking her mentor in the eye.

"I trust you, _sensei_." She breathed. "But I warn you, if a single person is harmed, I will gut you and personally see to it that your own tailed beasts devour you."

Pain stared into her eyes. He could see that she meant what she said when she threatened him.

"Deal." He said, holding out a hand.

"… Deal."

Kira reached up and shook once, sealing the pact.

xxx

Sakura trudged back to the inn with three grocery bags. She felt all the unfamiliar chakra signatures around her and took comfort in the pleasant, innocent chakra that the civilians emitted.

_They are so… pure, somehow._ She sighed, watching two little kids playing in the snow with their mothers watching.

_**But they're dead boring. When attacked, what happens is the following: Scream. Run. Scream. Panic. Scream some more. Die. And then: go to hell!**_

_Lucky them._Sakura grinned.

She was just entering the inn when she felt a flash of chakra signature…

… That did _not_ belong with the rest.

It was definitely that of another ninja, who was not on her team.

Masking her chakra, she quickly deposited her bags in her room, then locked onto the stranger's trail.

It was a kunoichi… she realized. Following the trail, she became more and more nervous, expecting an attack any second.

Closing her eyes to concentrate better, she felt the stranger come nearer and nearer.

Finally, her senses told her that the ninja was right underneath her.

Sakura's eyes snapped open, and she stared at the person walking under the roof that she was perched on.

Her hair was dark and tied into a pretty hair knot. A paper rose adorned her styled hair, and her eyes had dark lids.

But…

… Why was she wearing the Akatsuki cloak? How could the Sokage allow them in the village?

In flash, everything became crystal clear:

Akatsuki were allied with Izogakure.

_**We're DOOOOOOOMED! **_Inner Sakura screamed, before fainting and collapsing.

Turning, she hurried to find Kakashi, when a cold voice stopped her.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Her breath came in short, painful gasps as she slowly faced the source of the cold voice.

Orange hair. Multiple piercings. Akatsuki cloak… And a strange eye jutsu.

"…" She refused to say anything.

He continued to stare at her, then monotoned:

"I asked you a question. You are to answer."

"I won't." She said, her voice trembling slightly.

Sakura backed away slowly, step by step, until she poised right at the edge of the roof. Suddenly, her hands flashed in a transportation jutsu, but she couldn't complete it before the kunoichi from before showed up and restrained her hands.

Blood oozed from tiny slashes on her arms.

_Huh?_ She wondered, wide eyed. _Paper cuts…?_

"Well done, Konan." The orange haired man praised in a toneless voice.

"Now, let's see if pain can force you to talk." (Pain – pain, get it?)

Konan prepared to slash into Sakura's shoulder, but suddenly, an explosion of sand knocked the paper kunoichi away from the Haruno.

At the same time, wind blew up from no where, barrelling the two Akatsuki members off of the roof.

Sakura sighed in relief when her team landed next to her almost within a second.

Temari grimaced, still holding her fan from when she had blown the two away, and said:

"As soon as you get out of our sight, you get into trouble. BAD SAKURA!"

"…" Gaara landed next to his sister, staring at Sakura with an irritated look.

One by one, the rest of Sakura's mission partners appeared, surrounding the two lone Akatsukis.

"LEAVE SAKURA-CHAN ALONE!" Naruto yelled, bursting out of a snow bank.

"Great, Dickless just blew our surprise effect." Sai grumbled, landing on a roof top.

Pain looked around with an inscrutable expression and said:

"Ah. The Ichibi and the Kyuubi. Just what we needed."

His gaze hefted onto Sakura once more.

"But they can wait, for we have far more important matters at the moment. Konan, secure the girl. We're taking her along."

xxx

**A/N**

*wails* Now the fiiiiighting begins! WOOT! Yay!

I just want to say that, yes, I'm grateful for the reviews… but why anonymous? I don't bite! :O Seriously, it's not like I'm scary or evil or demented or – heck, never mind.

Reviews, please? (Note that I said _please_! XD)

- EbonyEye

PREVIEW CHAPTER 5:

_- "How nice of you to bring Haruno all the way right towards me. Saves me a lot of trouble."_

_- "Hey! Let me go! LET ME GO!"_

_- "We'll get her back." He snarled._

"_Just you wait and see."_

_- "I dub thee: Lapdog!"_


	5. Opponents

**It's Just Not Natural**

by EbonyEye

xxx

I looooove reviews! Keep 'em coming; I love you reviewers!^_^

xxx

**Chapter 5**

**Opponents**

Location: Somewhere in Fire Country

xxx

Sasuke coolly slit the throat of the last hunter-nin, who wheezed for a second, choking on his own blood, before collapsing and never moving again.

The Uchiha continued walking, as if nothing had happened. Team Hebi exchanged a glance before hurriedly following their captain.

_He's so strong it's unnatural._ Suigetsu shivered.

Sasuke was incredibly crazy about getting the scroll that Itachi might get. If he had something that his aniki wanted, than Itachi would come running like a fish lured to a fish hook.

xxx

Madara frowned as he neared Konoha. Yeah, he knew that he was looking for any Haruno that was special to their target, but how would he find any?

Stopping just out of range of detection, he observed the peaceful village. His fingers twitched as he felt his hatred for this village well up. Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself.

About an hour long he watched Konoha. Finally, he saw something that interested him greatly.

A girl with long dark hair and pale lavender eyes came walking out of Konoha with an Inuzuka (Madara knew that Clan) and another man/boy with sunglasses and hidden face.

But in the centre of them was a short figure with… rose coloured hair and wide emerald eyes, munching on a sandwich.

_Bingo!_ Madara thought to himself.

From the looks of it, the older girl was a Hyuuga. That wouldn't be a problem for him… and neither would the Inuzuka. So that left the third man, and Madara knew that he could easily take the risk of attacking somebody he had no clue about.

Silently, he leapt in the branches above the Konoha nins, following them as they went further and further away from safety.

_You are all dead. _He thought gleefully.

xxx

Hinata had taken Nozomi along that day with her team. Kiba delighted in letting Nozomi ride Akamaru, and Shino had found it intensely amusing that the little rosette was not grossed out by his bugs, while older girls were disgusted by them.

Nozomi had been extremely cheerful, asking questions about the team and bounded within sight around the woods.

The Hokage looked upon Nozomi like she did Sakura, and had granted Hinata to take the young Haruno out on the conditions they take good care of her.

"If you don't bring her back to Konoha, I won't need to kill you, since Sakura will." Tsunade had warned.

But as soon as they were far out enough in the woods, Kiba had stopped suddenly, causing Nozomi to almost fly off of Akamaru's back.

"There's somebody out there!" Kiba warned in a hushed tone.

Gazing around, they got their bearings and waited, tense and alert, protecting Nozomi in the centre.

Out of no where, a man suddenly appeared. He had an orange spiral mask and… an Akatsuki cloak.

"Hello." He grinned behind the mask.

"How nice of you to bring Haruno all the way right towards me. Saves me a lot of trouble." Hinata's Byakugan appeared without her consciously turning it on.

"Leave her alone." The Hyuuga heiress warned quietly, for once not stuttering. She resumed a defensive position, stepping in front of Nozomi.

"Kiba, go back to Konoha. Get help." She whispered barely above her breath. Her teammate caught the quiet words and suddenly, before Madara could react, bounded as fast as possible onto his faithful canine, heading towards Konoha.

Madara watched the Inuzuka disappear said mockingly:

"You don't really believe that he'll make it back fast enough to stop me?"

"Long enough for me to hold you off." Hinata said quietly.

Shino slowly backed towards the side, waiting for the Hyuuga's signal.

Hinata had to keep herself from shivering. Akatsuki members were no joke. And she had never seen this one, making him more of a threat.

Swallowing, she forced herself to outwardly appear calm and unruffled. But deep down, she had a very…

…very…

…bad feeling about this.

xxx

Location: Izogakure

xxx

Naruto was panicking.

Why?

Oh, maybe because his teammate/best friend was in danger?

Blue eyes narrowed angrily, boring holes into Pain's emotionless Rin'negan orbs.

To his left, the Kyuubi container heard his sensei mutter:

"Hold on, Naruto. Restrain yourself… wait a little bit…"

Sai, opposite of Naruto, slowly drew a scroll and his painting equipment. Dark eyes narrowed in concentration as the pale artist created a hawk with lightning fast movements.

At the same time, Kankuro unslung his puppet and it jerked upright, showing its hideous, grimacing face.

One by one, the Konoha and Suna ninjas prepared themselves. These were Akatsuki, and were not to be toyed with.

Sakura struggled fitfully in Konan's arms, receiving countless paper cuts which healed in a hiss of green chakra moments later.

_FUCK! If the medic dies or gets captured, who cares for the team?_ She panicked.

_**Shut up!**_ Her inner snapped, taking over Sakura's usual roll.

_**Just think of a way to get us out of here!**_

_Well, yeah? You try and do something for a change!_

_**Hey! I help! Like when Ino-pig caught you in t – **_

_SHUT UP AND THINK!_

Pain was staring at Naruto. He didn't have his other bodies here, because he had only planned on a short stay.

This was getting out of hand.

The Akatsuki member cursed inwardly. He hated it when things didn't work out the way he wanted it to.

Glancing at Konan, he gave a slight nod. She winked back and sprang into action.

Quick as lightning, Sakura found herself restrained by paper. As ridiculous as it seemed, within seconds paper rope had snaked up her limbs and pinned her into one stiff board.

She burst out:

"Hey! Let me go! LET ME GO!"

Pain stared at her coldly and, without looking, stabbed the ink hawk behind him with a kunai that Sai chose to loose that moment.

Next, sand spilled over the paper wrapping Sakura, shredding the parchment. But the paper grew back as soon as it was destroyed, so the sand curled around, going for Konan herself.

The said Akatsuki elegantly leaped up, her hands still in the jutsu binding Sakura. She pressed her lips together, easily dodging the next wall of sand.

Konan jerked her head at Pain questioningly, leaping out of several shurikans' paths. When her leader nodded back at her, she turned, hefted Sakura, and ran her hand through more signs.

In an instance, paper wings sprouted from her back, and she took off.

Sai immediately reacted, painting a giant falcon, pursuing the Akatsuki. Temari responded equally fast, spreading her fan and launching into the air.

"Give her back you fucking asshole!" She screamed as she disappeared from sight.

"C'mon!" Naruto shouted, trying to follow after them on foot. But a whirlwind of shurikan blocked his path, nearly slicing him in two.

"You will stay here. Konan can manage those two." Pain stated calmly.

Naruto gritted his teeth, his eyes turning red.

"We'll get her back." He snarled.

"Just you wait and see."

xxx

Temari gestured wildly at Sai who sped next to her. He nodded and slanted upwards into the sky, out of sight.

The Suna ninja, clenched her jaw and pushed herself faster. She could just see Konan up ahead, a small black dot.

"Bitch." She ground out, pumping more chakra into her fan, whereupon she zoomed faster.

Konan glanced over her shoulder and saw only one of the Suna nins coming after her.

_Only one?_ She thought suspiciously. Scanning the chakra down in the village, she couldn't find any more ninjas.

_Hm… they must not care for their comrade so much. Or maybe Pain killed them all already. That's so like him; taking all the fun without sharing._

Deciding that the later thought was more plausible, she examined the landscape. Where would the best place be to confront her pursuer?

Spotting a more or less flat mountain top, she landed gracefully, her wings folding back into her body. She thanked the fact that it was not snowing any more, or else it would have soaked her wings, making her incapable of flight.

Temari watched as her opponent halted, touching down on a mountain peak.

She circled overhead for a bit, inconspicuously scanning below for Sai.

There! The pale artist was waving his arms wildly in the air, pointing towards a couple of clouds not far away.

The Suna kunoichi pulled the fan from underneath herself and fell the fifty feet down.

She landed softly in a snow pile, scattering the white particles all over the place. Eyes fierce, she spat:

"Why do you guys want Sakura? Give her back!"

Konan was not fazed by the harsh tone in Temari's voice.

"It is yours to ask, and mine to withhold." She said calmly.

Temari clenched her jaw and yelled:

"Well, then take it to your grave, fucking bitch!"

Whipping her magnificent fan around her body, she blew stinging snow at her opponent, almost blowing Konan off the cliff.

Konan caught herself gracefully landing on the spot she had been in before. Paper whirled up into a tornado, renting the air with screaming wind as it attacked the Suna nin.

Temari easily knocked the tornado away, only to be surprised by a storm of paper shurikan screaming towards her.

Knowing it was too late to blow them away, she ducked, one of the deadly projectiles grazing her hair.

Grimacing, she twisted aside, barely avoiding a hail of super-sharp paper kunais. Just as she completed evading the daggers, something hit her back and tossed her high into the air, ripping open her back.

Black and white lights flashed in front of her eyes as she screamed. The high, piercing keen rebounded off of the mountain, echoing in thousands of racking shrieks. She fell back towards the mountain, colliding with a sickening crunch.

Konan smirked.

The tornado that Temari had supposedly disposed of had one purpose: to catch the opponent unawares.

Temari had waved it aside, and it had only curved around while Konan distracted her with other weapons. As soon as the Akatsuki saw an opening, she launched the tornado into Temari's back.

The Suna nin curled into a ball, panting. Blood dyed the surrounding snow crimson, and she felt her consciousness slipping away rapidly.

_Oh good god, this is how I die._ She thought, before blackness washed over her, rocking her soul in the waves of the abyss.

Sakura watched in panic as Temari went limp. Her medic instincts told her that the Suna nin would die if not treated.

"LET GO! LET ME… FUCK YOU DROOLING JACKASS OF AN ORIGAMI IDIOT!" The kunoichi roared, struggling against the paper bonds. They cut into her flesh, staining themselves red. Nonetheless, Sakura was steadily ripping herself free, bit by bit.

Konan turned to see her captive work herself to freedom.

"None of that." She said coldly, raising her hands to start another jutsu.

But before she could complete that, an inky lion leapt from out of no where, roaring as it plunged towards her.

Konan slit its throat open and watched as it disappeared in a pool of black ink.

"Come out, wherever you are." She commanded, annoyed. So there had been more than one pursuer! Now she couldn't be sure that even more had followed her.

"Not yet." Came Sai's flat voice.

Sakura recognized her teammate's voice and screamed:

"Sai! Temari's still alive, but she's slipping fast! Quick!"

"Yes yes, Ugly, I have everything under control!"

In a rapid succession, different creatures of ink appeared, always from different places. An eagle, a rhino, a wolf, and finally a snake.

Konan fended off all of them. She was so busy keeping the snake from strangling her, she almost missed the swarm of kunais that were seeking to bury themselves into her back.

_Damn, this one's good._ She mentally sweatdropped.

Sai's voice floated out from behind a snow bank.

"Hey, you. I have the perfect nickname for you. Nicknames are supposed to make people feel more familiar, right?"

"…" Konan aimed some shurikan at the snow bank, presumably where the Konoha nin was hiding.

"I dub thee: Lapdog!"

"…?" The Akatsuki stopped short, her eyes flashing irritably for a split second. Behind her Sakura muffled a giggle, despite the serious situation.

"L… _Lapdog?_" Konan bit out, body stiffening angrily.

"Don't worry, puppy, I'll get you house trained in no time."

_WTF?_ "And why exactly am I a _lapdog?_" Konan launched all of her projectiles in a fluid motion.

As they spun into the snow bank, ripping it apart, Sai answered tonelessly:

"Because you're attached to the pierced orange haired what's-his-name Akatsuki leader. Like a dog."

Snow flew in every direction as the paper weapons bored into the snowbank, but behind it was not Sai, no, only a little ink Chihuahua.

It stared at her sightlessly and, opening its mouth, asked in Sai's voice:

"Like how you look?"

Screaming without any discernible words, the Akatsuki whipped up a couple more paper weapons, when she was stopped by a kunai at her throat.

"Die, puppy." Came Sai's voice from behind her.

xxx

Kakashi ducked a piece of the roof that he had been standing on a couple of seconds before.

_Where is Yamato when you need him?_ He cussed.

Naruto was on his way of sprouting his fourth tail, and was attacking both his teammates as well as Pain.

Not good.

Narrowly avoiding getting burned, the copy nin searched for Gaara. The Sand nin was slowly loosing it as well as he defended himself from Shukaku as well as Pain, mouth set in a firm line.

_Why did I get stuck with both Jinchurikis?_ Kakashi groaned to himself.

Pain was harder to catch than soap, always managing to get away in impossible situations. His ringed eyes remained impassive, not even hinting any stress or strain.

Kankuro whipped his puppet around, meaning to catch Pain from above, but the Akatsuki leader simply punched it so hard it went flying off in a different direction.

Sand was swirling through the air, ripping at Pain's billowing cloak, but never actually touching Pain himself. Gaara ground his teeth in silent anger as he fought over the control over the Ichibi at the same time.

Kakashi's visible eye widened as he realized that Gaara's control was slipping away, he shouted to Kankuro:

"GET YOUR BROTHER OUT OF HERE! I'LL DEAL WITH NARUTO!"

Kankuro nodded, eyes glassy, and grabbed Gaara, who hung limply while gripping the sides of his head.

Kakashi swallowed, hoping with all his might that his sharingan remembered Yamato's jutsu right, and his hands slashed through the air in a couple of handsigns.

To his relief, the seal sprang into existence on his palms, and he hurriedly slapped into onto Naruto's forehead.

Howling angrily, the four-tailed Kyuubi stumbled around dizzily, giving Pain the opportunity to aim dozens of weapons at it.

The copy nin gritted his teeth, almost losing his cool. Something that Hatake Kakashi almost never did.

Leaping in front of the rapidly disappearing Kyuubi, he blocked the projectiles flying towards Naruto, saving the boy from being incapacitated.

"Naruto." He barked, still reflecting the kunais and shurikan whizzing around.

"…"

Turning slightly, Kakashi saw that the blonde ninja had passed out. Chakra burns covered his entire body, and blood was seeping from his mouth.

Cussing lowly, the copy nin ducked under a kunai, blocked two shurikan and raced over to Naruto. He slung him over his back, leaping over a tight formation of senbon that had almost gotten his thigh.

"NO!" Pain growled, reaching for more weapons. How he wished that he'd brought more bodies with him!

Keeping his eyes fixed on the copy nin's retreating back, he was about to grab some awful looking daggers, when he spotted something that caused him to lower his arm in relief.

As Kakashi turned to flee, he had to swerve suddenly to keep himself from colliding with another person.

Actually, two people.

Pain recognized the twins at once: Mirai and Huyu Miyuki, the sentries that had admitted them and Kira's teammates.

"Hey, guess we got here just on time." Mirai grinned.

Huyu nodded in agreement, his eyes flickering to Pain.

"We learned from our captain that you're name is Pain, and the woman is Konan." He explained quietly.

"Mamoru and Kira have gone to reinforce Konan." Mirai continued. "Believe it or not, the three ninja rats actually managed to overcome her."

Pain's expression didn't change.

Sighing, Mirai turned towards Kakashi. Huyu mirrored her movement, silently slipping a bit to the side so they could come at him from different directions.

"Oh, and Pain?" The Akatsuki leader turned to see Huyu looking at him.

"Kira says that you and Konan should escape while you still can. Not just because of the Suna and Konoha rats; her as well. No joke. She's not happy with the destruction of some village houses."

Pain nodded and formed a couple of handsigns, disappearing in a heartbeat.

Kakashi warily observed the two ninjas.

Suddenly, without any signal, Mirai shot to Kakashi's left, while Huyu leaped overhead to stab him from above.

Fighting against two is hardly fair, especially with a ramen-induced weight on your shoulder. The copy nin managed to fend the two Izo ninjas off, stunned by their ferocity.

_Interesting_, he mused,_ their coordination is perfect. They move as if one mind were shared in two bodies._

After a particularly intense exchange of blows, he finally couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer.

"Are you two one person?" He asked incredulously, fear starting to slip down his spine.

They laughed simultaneously, even more unnerving than before, not pausing in their attacks.

"No." Mirai grinned. "Shall I explain it for you?"

"I'd be a lot happier if you did." Kakashi replied, blocking Huyu's foot with an expert grip.

"Okay, our Clan, the Miyukis, has the kekkai genkai of sharing minds. It only works among siblings, though, and in rare cases to your parents."

Twirling around, she launched two shurikan at Kakashi before she continued.

"For Huyu and me, we have an extremely close link, since we're twins. Usually you have to turn the connection on with a jutsu, but we can hear each other the whole time without having to do anything. It is very helpful in fights, since we can see what the other person sees."

Kakashi smirked, his mask creasing slightly, and said:

"How nice. But I am guessing that it can be annoying too, right?"

"Yeah, especially if your brother can see right away if you ate his chocolate bar or not."

Huyu glowered at his twin and snapped:

"Hey, you've never been on a diet before, baka! You don't know how strict mom can be! I was lucky to get that single chocolate bar!"

"Aw, but don't you care enough for me to give me your precious chocolate?" Mirai countered, ducking under a few kunais.

Kakashi grimaced as the twins' speed increased. Realizing that he only had one choice, he raised a hand and fluidly raised his hitaite.

His sharingan blazed into existence.

Mirai grimaced. The Konoha nin's speed had increased incredibly.

_Fuck. Huyu, call your foxes._

_You sure, Mirai?_

_Yes! Why would I be joking when we're risking our necks?_

In sync, the twins raised their arms, whistling so loudly that Kakashi faltered in surprise. One of Naruto's legs smacked his lower back and he winced, shifting the blonde.

Glancing at the Kyuubi container, he thought angrily: _Damn it, Naruto, why do you pass out just when I need you to help?_

All other thoughts vanished as he saw about two dozen white foxes leap onto the roof next to Huyu from the ground. Their fur glittered silver-white, and their eyes were a light lime colour, matching Huyu.

The next moment, four snow owls descended out of no where and landed on Mirai's shoulders.

_These two are creepier than Orochimaru. _Kakashi groaned.

The twins, still in sync, formed a couple of unfamiliar handsigns, and shouted in unison:

"Bird-fox-human Transformation!"

A fierce wind spun up, concealing the twins, the foxes and the owls from view. Kakashi backed away a couple of paces, his sharingan eye widening.

He could see the chakra – a lime colour – growing steadily until it was about ten times the amount that the twins had had together before.

_Fuck_.

The wind slowly died down, revealing something incredibly horrifying behind.

A huge fox-like creature stood there, with large white owl wings that were three times the length of the foxes' body. Its feet were birds' feet, and its thick fur rolled silver when it moved.

Kakashi noticed that one eye was dark, the other light lime colour.

_So, the twins have merged with their strange creatures. _He realized. With a sinking feeling he realized that he wasn't going to get out of this alive.

He needed help, and quickly.

xxx

**A/N**

_ I am **awful** at writing fight scenes. I take special interest in how you guys found the fighting. I really, really need to know how to make them better.

Hey, I need to know something: I've been trying to decide on a regular updating plan, 'cause it's easier when you have to work towards a goal. So, my question: How often should this be? I need at least four or five days to write a chapter.

Thanks for reviewing!

- EbonyEye

PREVIEW CHAPTER 6:

_- "BY THE POWER OF YOUTH, I WILL NOT LET SAKURA-CHAN'S SISTER GET KIDNAPPED!"_

_- "Nobody, especially a small, ignorant child, calls Uchiha Madara a bastard."_

_- "I AM NOT A LOSER, YOU PERVERTED SENSEI!"_


	6. Reinforcement

**It's Just Not Natural**

by EbonyEye

xxx

Once again, thanks to all reviewers! Because of you, I know if I learn how to write better!

xxx

**Chapter 6**

**Reinforcements**

Location: Near Konoha

xxx

"Hurry up!" Kiba shouted behind him at the other three shinobis sprinting after him.

"Geez, we're going as fast as possible!" Tenten snapped, leaping slightly behind Neji.

"BY THE POWER OF YOUTH, I WILL NOT LET SAKURA-CHAN'S SISTER GET KIDNAPPED!" Lee bellowed. He dashed forwards, picking up Tenten and Neji at the same time, and zoomed past Kiba with enough speed to shame Akamaru.

Kiba stared and shouted:

"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE THEY ARE, ASSHOLE!"

Neji grunted, tucked under Lee's arm, and decided there was nothing he could do about it. He hated to admit it, but the thought of those wide, six year old green orbs clouded with torture or worse, lifelessness, bothered him considerably.

"Byakugan!"

Scanning the woods around them, he kept a constant look out for his cousin.

"A little more to the left, Lee." He instructed from Lee's hip.

"LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Lee yelled.

xxx

Hinata coughed, seeing her blood splatter on the green grass. In her disoriented mind, she mused that the crimson on green looked a bit like Christmas.

Shino was completely drained of chakra, and Hinata was on her last stretch. Nozomi huddled behind her leg, eyes clouded with terror.

"Nozomi." Hinata hacked out from her blood-clogged throat.

"Do you know how to find chakra signatures?"

"Y… Yes, Hinata…?" The little rosette was so terrified, she dropped the suffix.

"Do you remember Neji's chakra?"

A mute nod.

"Good. Now, run and try to find that. You'll be safe with him. Go!"

Nozomi's eyes cleared, determination transfiguring her features. Hinata almost commented that she was so like her sister, even if she didn't know it.

A flash of dark pink whirled away, and the little Haruno was gone within seconds.

Hinata took a deep breath, and created a clone. Dropping a henge of Nozomi on her bunshin, she nodded, satisfied.

This was the advantage of being friends with Naruto.

Her smile, however, was wiped clean off of her face when she spotted a huge cluster of weapons whirling towards her back.

Closing her eyes, she remembered Neji's instructions, and let chakra pour out. She spun in a circle, performing a simple Kaiten.

"Excellent." She heard Madara's voice come mockingly from behind.

Her face paled as she realized what had happened.

It had all been a trick to get her back unprotected, and at the same time drain her of her last chakra. After all, after a Kaiten, you can't perform another one right away.

A soundless scream escaped the Hyuuga's lips as she felt her back get bored through by a fuuma shurikan. Gasping and retching for her desperate need for air, she twisted, narrowly avoiding another shurikan.

Her bunshin that was disguised as Nozomi jumped from the trees, pretending to be the younger Haruno. Madara coolly flicked a kunai at it, making it disappear.

His masked face stared down at Hinata, and she could hear his triumphant tone through a strange ringing in her ears.

"Poor girl. If only you'd stepped aside. You see, it's not you that I want, but Haruno."

He flicked a single look at Hinata, and she collapsed onto the forest floor.

Uchiha Madara looked at her without any emotions, and stepped over her body towards the direction that Nozomi had taken off in.

"Ready or not, here I come, girly." He smirked.

xxx

"Sasuke-kun, we need a break." Karin gasped, her sides aching from running non-stop from Oto all the way almost to Konoha.

The said Uchiha flicked a glance at her, making her quaver, then grunted:

"Aa."

Team Hebi stopped instantaneously, landing on the forest floor below.

The redhead frowned, disgruntled. Ever since she'd lost Itachi's signature, and since Sasuke set his mind on going to Konoha, he was in a foul mood. Not… angry… he was merely more silent and even more unresponsive than before, if that was possible.

Suigetsu yawned hugely and stretched, cracking his neck at the same time.

"So, leader-sama, what exactly is with the scroll we're looking for?" The shark-like nuke-nin inquired curiously.

"Hn."

"Okay, fine." Suigetsu sighed, fishing around for his water bottle.

Karin opened her mouth to start bitching around with Suigetsu when she felt a chakra signature surge towards them full speed.

"Sasuke." She hissed.

Team Hebi started violently as she warned them, and jumped again when they heard somebody wail:

"HELP! HEEEEEEEEELP!" It sounded like a child.

At once, the Uchiha was on his feet, with his kusanagi drawn. He felt the chakra as well and turned, facing the direction where the person was most certainly going to arrive.

To his surprise, it didn't feel like the person was even attempting the smallest bit to hide their chakra signature.

His suspicion grew as he felt the colour of the chakra:

Clear emerald green.

His throat was suddenly thick.

xxx

Nozomi raced through the trees, unconsciously still grasping her half-eaten sandwich in her fist. Her heart was pounding so loudly she could hear the blood roar in her ears.

She let small tendrils of chakra out in every direction, searching for Neji's familiar chakra. Instead, she almost tripped as she felt Madara's malignant signature draw closer with terrifying speed.

The younger Haruno tried pushing herself faster, yet she was already on her top gear.

_**SAKURAAAAAA!**__**!**_She screamed in her thoughts.

Just then, she felt another signature ahead, unlike any other she had encountered. It was dark, almost black, and so large that it seemed to blot out any other life forms within its sinister presence.

Nozomi didn't care if it was a ninja from another village or not, she needed to find help.

"HELP! HEEEEEEEEELP!" She screeched, throwing herself towards the unknown chakra. As she drew nearer, she realized that there were three other signatures as well.

Just as she leapt from one tree branch to the other, she felt strong arms catch her around the waist. Her legs swung helplessly through the air and she screeched herself hoarse.

"Quiet!" Madara hissed into her ear.

The Haruno weighed her options, then decided that she'd rather risk her neck calling for the unknown ninjas.

"LET ME GO YOU FUCKING BASTARD-TEME!" She screamed, trying to punch Madara through the hole in his mask.

Suddenly, a single sharingan eye appeared through the hole, scaring the hell out of her.

"Nobody, especially a small, ignorant child, calls Uchiha Madara a bastard." He said, his voice making the temperature drop a couple of degrees.

As he glared threateningly at the Haruno, an idea sprang into her mind.

Staring past his shoulder as if she were focusing on somebody else, she yelled:

"PLEASE HELP ME!"

Madara whipped around, expecting to see an opponent. The next thing he knew, a soggy, mushy sandwich flew straight into the mask's hole, covering half of his face with squishy, damp bread.

"Why you – !"

Nozomi nimbly slipped from his arms and pelted ahead at a break neck speed.

Madara snarled deep in his throat and lunged after her, the race beginning anew.

xxx

"Wow. I wonder who they are?" Suigetsu said nervously.

The team was listening to the exchange that was not that far away. Sasuke's sharingan flickered in and out of existence, his body rigid.

"Get ready. That person is approaching." He said tensely.

A figure crashed through the shrubbery at the edge of the clearing.

But instead of a full grown shinobi racing at them, a small girl about six years old pelted towards them, screaming and crying with tears running down her face.

Team Hebi stood frozen in shock. But actually, it was Sasuke who was the most surprised.

The girl's hair was a dark pink, like very new cherry blossom petals, and her wide, panicking orbs were a shiny emerald green.

It looked exactly like Sakura Haruno.

He could have easily knocked her away, but something stayed his hand.

To make matters even more confusing, the small girl ran at him and crashed into one of his legs, sniffling and sobbing while she buried her face into Sasuke's leg bindings. He could feel her delicate heart pounding furiously in her chest through his leg. Something – or somebody – had obviously given the girl a terrible scare.

The Uchiha stared at her disbelievingly. He was utterly shocked, but not a single emotion was portrayed on his handsome face.

He would never admit it, but a strange tingling flashed up his leg from where the child hugged him. The tingling flew up his body until a strange warmth kindled in his heart.

The girl continued to sob and gasp for while, during which none of Team Hebi moved. When she finally calmed down a bit, she slowly tilted her head back to stare into Sasuke's dark eyes.

The Uchiha was fixed by a familiar green gaze, and a twinge unsettled him in the middle of his heart.

"Hn."

Turning slightly, he said tonelessly, his sharingan spinning into life:

"And who are you?"

Madara emerged from his hiding spot, completely in Tobi-disguise.

"No time for that, Uchiha-sama!" Madara/Tobi answered innocently. "All I need is the girl, pleeeease?"

Slowly, the Sasuke stared back down at the child. She flinched as the now blood red eyes bored into hers and she cringed.

"No." She said, more tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

Sasuke could tell from the strange, orange-masked shinobi that he really only wanted the green eyed girl. He could easily avoid any fight with the stranger if he gave up the unknown girl.

And yet…

Ancient hurt tugged in the dark chambers of his long destroyed heart. He felt a memory flood through his mind for a second. He remembered another green gaze so like these right here.

And he had probably destroyed the owner of those green eyes with his decision.

Looking back at the stranger, he monotoned:

"No."

Madara felt anger pulse through him and he struggled for a second to regain control.

_No, my identity should be saved for a different time. _He concluded. Something told him that it would be better to let Sasuke's see him only as another Akatsuki member at the moment. Plus, he could sense some more Konoha rats arriving, and that would cause even more trouble… his identity was the utmost important right now.

"Fine." He made his voice high and squeaky like Tobi's, detesting the sound of his own transformed words.

"But leader-sama will hear of it, you… you mean old bastard!" Making his voice whiny, he leaped into the trees as if he were scared that Sasuke could get a hold of him.

Like a frightened child.

_Ugh, I swear Deidara can play the idiot's role next time. _Madara groaned to himself.

xxx

Location: Izogakure

xxx

Kakashi desperately searched for any signs of help. All he got was a snoring Naruto and a worn out copy nin.

Finally deciding that Naruto was his last chance, he pulled the fox ninja off of his shoulder and shook him, yelling:

"NARUTO! WAKE UP!"

His answer was as following:

*snore*

Kakashi tried again:

"WAKE UP YOU LAZY LOSER!"

At once, Naruto shot up, screaming:

"I AM NOT A LOSER, YOU PERVERTED SENSEI!"

_Perfect._ Kakashi mentally smirked.

The fox/owl creature growled lowly and lunged at the pair of Konoha nins, but they dodged.

"Listen, Naruto, I am completely drained of chakra. And my eye is shot. You have to kill them." Saying so, Kakashi pointed at the fearsome creature.

"Huh?" Understanding dawned on Naruto's face before he grinned widely, shouting:

"HAI, KAKA-SENSEI!"

Mirai watched Naruto prepare himself with worry. The foxy ninja was creating kage-bunshin, which Mirai knew were actually forbidden. She observed the steady rotating chakra in his palm that created a _fwip-fwip-fwip_ sound.

_Damn. Huyu, we can't take on a Jinchuriki. Remember last time when we accidentally met the Nanabi?_

_No, duh! _Huyu snorted. _Look, we've learned a lot since then. I think we can give it our best shot._

_Fine… Huyu?_

_Yes?_

_You are a good brother._

Huyu stared through his one eye. If Mirai was praising him, that meant she was guessing that they were going to die.

He sighed and mentally patted her head.

_We'll make it, Mirai._

xxx

Konan grimaced as she felt the kunai dig slightly into her throat, summoning a small trickle of blood.

She felt Sakura tear through her binding jutsu, rushing over to Temari.

"Sai! She's still alive!" She called. Her hands glowed green and she began the tedious task of healing Temari's ruined back.

The pale artist nodded at the pink haired kunoichi, and stared back at Konan. He still held the kunai at her throat, and drew back his other arm to deliver the death blow.

Out of no where, a shurikan whistled through the air and knocked Sai's kunai from his hand. More of them followed, and Sai tried to punch Konan instead.

Desperate, he lunged forwards towards the Akatsuki, but an invisible force slammed into his chest, and he was thrown backwards almost off of the cliff.

Sakura looked up, green eyes wide as she beheld the newcomers.

"Konan. Pain left, and you should follow." Mamoru said earnestly, so unlike the cheerful man that Sakura had met before. His face was obscured by a bright orange book.

Konan nodded, and formed a couple of handsigns before disappearing in a swirl of paper.

"Mamoru. Stick that book somewhere else." Purple eyes bored in pale blue, and Mamoru nodded sheepishly, tucking the book into a less visible pocket.

Kira gave Mamoru a small nod, before hefting her gaze on Sakura. The leaf kunoichi swore that the Sokage's eyes darkened in colour.

Mamoru pressed his lips together into a thin line, staring at Kira with a begging expression in his pale eyes. She noticed, and her amethyst eyes narrowed.

"No." She said shortly.

"Kira-chan…" Mamoru's voice held a pleading note. Sakura and Sai's jaws dropped, probably hitting the snowy ground. Kira-_chan_?

She stared coldly back at her teammate and said once more:

"No, Mamoru."

The pale-eyed Izo nin bowed his head and looked at Sai.

"I'm sorry…" He whispered, before forming a couple unfamiliar handsigns.

The ANBU Root member opened his mouth in a gasp of surprise as he was lifted into thin air by absolutely _nothing_.

Sakura stared, her eyes huge, then whirled to face Kira.

"You're the god-damned Sokage! You _know_ that this isn't right! DO SOMETHING!"

"…"

"Damn it, answer me!" The Haruno agitatedly pulled Temari behind a sheltering boulder and settled into a ready position.

Kira pressed her lips together and said nothing.

Sakura growled and her hands whipped to her kunai holders. Less than a second later, a cluster of combined kunais and shurikan ripped the air in front of the Sokage, who deftly side-stepped them with unnerving calm.

"Why?" Sakura demanded again, her worried gaze darting from Temari's still form to Sai hanging limply in the air.

Purple orbs were concealed as Kira closed her eyes.

"Because…"

Her eyes opened again.

"… I feel that it is for the best of Izogakure."

Sakura clapped a hand over her mouth to restrain the gasp of surprise and horror. The Haruno's green orbs flew wide open in shock.

_**WTF?**_ Her inner screamed before fainting.

The Sokage's eyes were pitch-black. There was no hint of the whites of her eyes, or the purple irises. It was all just empty, empty black. Sakura couldn't tell which way Kira was looking; everything was just dark and blank.

The Konoha kunoichi's face hardened as she prepared to grapple with this unknown eye jutsu. Who knew what the Sokage could do?

A gasp of pain from Sai made her flinch and look at him. He was still limp in mid air, but his ribs were being shattered, one by one. What made matters worse, there was no visible source behind the attacks, except for Mamoru who reluctantly formed different hand seals.

Sai's body heaved with a spasm, and blood erupted from his mouth. Sakura's medical sense took over, and she realized that a rib must have punctured his lungs.

"Stop your fucking damn teammate!" Sakura ordered, her voice hard. Her petite body was small, yes, but tensed like a lion. Her pink hair did nothing to soften her cold expression that lingered on her face.

Kira's eyes narrowed, the blackness spooking the life out of Sakura, though her expression did not betray her feelings.

"Listen up, Haruno." Kira finally said, voice low.

"I give you until sunset today for you and your meddling team to get out. Otherwise, you'll have more to reckon with than just a couple of teammates." She jerked her chin towards Sai and Temari.

_Just a couple of teammates… _Kira's words spiralled around in Sakura's head and she clenched her jaw. The Sokage made it sound like a 'couple of teammates' was nothing to worry about.

"Well, at least _I_ care for my friends!" The Konoha nin spat back. "_You_ don't even listen to your teammate's wish. Look at him right now!"

Against her better judgement, Kira turned to glance at Mamoru, who stood with a pained expression on his face with his eyes closed.

Brief regret washed through her.

But she shook herself. She had started a move, and she had to end it.

"He will obey my orders." She stated icily.

Sakura let out a spurt of mocking laughter.

"Then it's a wonder he even likes you after the way you treat him." She taunted. Before the kage could answer, Sakura bit her finger and activated a set of new weapons. Among it were two strange looking shurikan about half the size of fuuma shurikan, a large blade and countless longish daggers.

_Show time_. Sakura thought.

As she straightened up with the assortment of new weapons, she felt her panic and insecurity suddenly wash away, leaving icy calm and concentration behind.

_**Shannaro**__**! Show that black eyed bitch who's the boss!**_

xxx

_Boing! Boing! Boing! …!_ The endless amount of Naruto's kagebunshin was overwhelming. The fox/owl/Mirai/Huyu mix creature was starting to get tired.

_Huyu, take over steering our body, okay?_

_On it, sister._

Mirai closed her one available eye, hoping desperately that she had enough chakra to start her secret technique, unique to her only.

_Fuck, I don't have enough cha – _

Huyu wordlessly transferred some of his chakra to her through their combined body.

… _Thanks. _Mirai swallowed through their throat, and felt his trust in her flow through their mind.

_I won't fail you. _She promised.

Kakashi watched as the creature's darker eye closed for a couple of heartbeats. When it opened again, the copy nin felt his sharingan inform him that this was kekkai genkai.

"Naruto!" He shouted.

"Hai?"

"Hai?"

"Hai?"

"Hai?"

Dozens of Narutos answered their sensei, who went on:

"That's bloodline limit! Watch out!"

"Okay!"

"Okay!

"Ok - !"

"Shut up, Naruto." Kakashi ordered, not feeling in the mood for hundreds of Narutos talking at the same time.

The dark lime eye's pupil was triangular, and small arrows pointing in a clockwise direction spiralled around the pupil.

What the hell was this?

About ten Narutos screamed and attacked the same time, from all sides. To Kakashi's astonishment, the creature moved _before_ Naruto did, and successfully evaded them all, causing over half of them to disappear with a swipe of its ivory claws.

_WTF?_

Kakashi continued to watch the fight, blood still oozing sluggishly from his side. He couldn't fight himself, but he could watch… and analyze…

His eyes widened as he observed the united Izo ninjas. Something dawned on his mind all of the sudden as he contemplated the creature's moves and he started to panic.

Something that was highly rare for Hatake Kakashi.

"Naru - !"

His warning came too late, and the creature extinguished about twenty bunshins within a second. Naruto and his two last remaining clones hurriedly retreated from the raging fox/bird, but it moved in, blocking his escape as soon as he thought about it.

"Hai, Kaka-sensei?" Naruto shouted back, forming a dozen more kagebunshin.

"Not good!" The scarecrow called to him.

"That one eye can see into the future!"

xxx

**A/N**

Hehe, Chapter 7 is going to be longer than usual, so it might take longer to update! Is that okay, or would you guys rather it sooner but shorter?

Reviews are awesome; I really looooooove them! It always gives me a glow of pride when people read my fics!

-EbonyEye

PREVIEW CHAPTER 7:

_- "Oh… hehe… I see… Little mix-up… Sorry, lead – !"_

_- Crying doesn't solve a single problem._

_- "Stupid – Izo – nins!"_

_- "I can't do it, because…"_

_- "I am truly sorry. Until next time, Haruno Sakura!"_


	7. My Family

**It's Just Not Natural**

by EbonyEye

xxx

Please read the A/N at the end of this chapter! Thanks!

xxx

**Chapter 7**

**My ****Family**

Location: Outside of Konoha

xxx

Nozomi hid behind Sasuke's large frame, refusing to come out. She was still so terrified and confused, her brain was not working quite right.

In her mind, she screamed over and over again for her older sister.

Sasuke's face was unmoved as he ordered his team:

"We're moving slightly away from Konoha, going to the opposite side of the village."

"Yes, leader-sama."

Suigetsu eyed the small rosette curiously. Why was she hiding behind only Sasuke the whole time?

His curiosity didn't decrease as they leaped through the trees, Nozomi lagging behind slightly. Sasuke didn't even attempt to help the little Haruno, even when she slipped and almost lost her footing.

Finally too curious to stand it, Suigetsu sidled up close to the Uchiha. He knew he might get killed for asking, but he couldn't help it.

"Leader-san, is that your kid?"

"…?"

In a flash, black fused to blinding red and Suigetsu found himself pinned to a tree by the throat.

"She. Is. _Not_. My. Daughter." Sasuke's tone was low, but Suigetsu knew him well enough to realized that he was furious.

"Oh… hehe… I see… Little mix-up… Sorry, lead – !" Suigetsu choked on his stumbling and apologetic words as his captain's hand tightened. The sound of a thousand birds singing ripped through the air.

Just then, something collided into his back. It didn't hurt, but Sasuke was always so tense that he immediately whipped around, red eyes searching for the source.

His sharingan was met by a pair of wide green eyes.

xxx

Nozomi realized that she was crying as she tried to keep up with her rescuers. But they were incredibly fast, and plus, her legs were shorter. She had the same sensitivity to chakra as Sakura had, and was taught early by her sister to use it. Of course, the black-haired man's chakra was… overwhelming. It was undeniably _huge_.

It frightened her just as much as reassured her.

Another tear rolled down her cheek.

Suddenly, she remembered something Sakura had told her… something about crying.

**Flashback**

_Nozomi had cried when Tsukiko, her best friend, had moved away. Sakura came in, her arms full of groceries, and spotted her little sister._

_In a flash, Sakura was checking Nozomi's health, pressing a glowing hand to the rosette's forehead._

"_Nozomi! What's the matter?" She demanded worriedly._

"_T… Tsu… __Tsukiko is gone!" Nozomi burst out. "I tried to make her stay, but she had to go anyways!"_

_Instead of soothing consolations as Nozomi had expected, she got a troubled look from her sister. No comforting words were offered to the little rosette._

_As the younger Haruno went off into tears again, Sakura snapped out of her sad expression._

"_Nozomi." She said sternly._

"_Stop crying. Crying doesn't solve a single problem."_

"… _H… Hai."_

"_When something like this happens," Sakura went on, a shadow crossing her face, "the only thing you can do is adapt and live on. Tsukiko made her own decision, and you have to respect and face that. Okay?"_

_A mute nod._

**End of Flashback**

_Crying doesn't solve a single problem._ Nozomi thought. She forced herself to stop shedding the glistening tears, and looked up to see where she was going…

… only to slam into a very, very hard, muscular back.

Her breath rushed from her lungs and she rebounded, landing on her backside on a wide branch.

She still didn't know who the man was, with the terrifying black/red eyes. She only knew that he had risked his own safety to protect her.

But the look he gave her almost made her regret coming to him.

A little late, she realized that the black-haired man was pinning the shark like ninja to the tree trunk, a crackling sword held at his throat. The lightning that arced through the air hummed with electricity, and Nozomi was wise enough to not get too close.

She scrambled on all fours, pushing herself upright. As the man followed her movements with blood-red eyes, she blurted:

"Why aren't we just going _into_ Konohagakure instead of sneaking around it?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. So this girl didn't understand the term 'nuke-nin'? Tch.

"Hn."

"…?" She tilted her head and Sasuke felt a small twinge pinch his heart.

"What does that mean?" Nozomi asked curiously.

Sasuke didn't bother answering, instead he shot a final glare of warning at his shark-like teammate before stepping away, his chidori dying down. The little girl calmed him in a way that unnerved him.

As he turned his back, he heard Suigetsu whisper:

"It's better if you go, kid, what's-your-name."

"Nozomi!" The little rosette snapped, unexpectedly sharp.

"I don't know the way home…" She said, her voice returning to normal, with a note of genuine uncertainty lingering in her tone.

Suigetsu snorted and said:

"Anywhere's better than with us, 'kay?"

Sasuke sighed and turned, going back towards the two lagging behind.

"Suigetsu." He intoned tonelessly. His voice was so low and calm, that Suigetsu immediately edged away from Nozomi, alarm stretching his eyes.

The little rosette frowned, her face adorably 'angry', and said:

"He wasn't doing anything. You're really mean to your friends, you know."

_You're really mean to your friends, you know._The words spooked around in Sasuke's head. In his mind's eye, he saw bright blue eyes, filled with mischief, and a pair of soft emerald ones overflowing with understanding and calm intelligence.

The Uchiha forced himself not to grimace as the girl's words hit a wounded spot. He wasn't quite able to suppress the feelings, though, and his eyes flashed red before they went dark again.

"I have no friends. He," Sasuke glanced at Suigetsu, "is a teammate."

Nozomi looked confused and asked:

"But everybody has friends! Right?"

When the Uchiha didn't answer, the little Haruno kept on going:

"I mean, even _Sakura_ has friends, and she's pricklier than prickly!"

She didn't notice that Sasuke's shoulders went rigid, tension written on every line of his body. Nozomi knew Sakura?

Okay, obviously, the little rosette was somehow related with his former teammate. Maybe a distant cousin…?

After an awkward pause, he grunted:

"Aa." And stalked away, leaving Nozomi staring after him curiously.

xxx

Location: Izogakure

xxx

"WHAT?" About a dozen Narutos started screaming around, and two ran into each other, falling in a dazed heap on the ground only to be eliminated a couple of seconds later by the Izo ninjas.

The real Naruto swallowed, pretending to be a bunshin. Kakashi seemed nervous, which sent alarm bells ringing in the fox containers ears.

_I have no choice… _He decided.

…

_Hello? Kyuubi? _

Mirai scanned the future, noting the amount of chakra sinking faster as she strained to see further along the paths of the yet-to-bes. Suddenly, she saw the Kyuubi erupting, which would be in about twenty seconds.

_HUYU! We've got to run!_

Her twin saw right away what she had seen and answered quietly:

_It takes too much time to change back._

_WHATEVER! WE HAVE TO GET THE __**FUCK **__OUT OF HERE!_

Huyu willed himself to gaze at her mind closer, and swallowed a lump in their combined throat.

He could see his and his sister's corpse.

_Okay._

Naruto squinted through half-lidded eyes as the fox/bird creature reared up, whirling up a cloud of snow. It started to grow rapidly smaller, until it was the size of the twins. With a startling tearing sound, it split in half and sort of melted back into the Izo nins. Mirai coughed, hacking up a bit of congealed blood, one eye closed. The other was still wide open with the arrows spiralling in a continuous slow movement.

"Okay, you half-starved bitches!" Naruto gritted out through his teeth. Chakra was building up inside of him again.

Red chakra.

"This is for Kaka-sensei! Kage-bunshins no jutsu!"

Mirai coughed again, watching the Kyuubi container create about a thousand bunshins, just as she had anticipated.

_Huyu… I'll try and see for both of us, okay?_

_Yes._

She winced as her spent eye throbbed. It wasn't as bad as last time she'd used too much chakra in an eye, but it still hurt.

"Get ready." She rasped.

The air exploded with Naruto-cries, and Mirai dodged and ducked as she tried to see as far as she could into the future. She knew she couldn't keep this up for long, since her body and chakra were already exhausted.

A Rasengan from Naruto screeched through the air as he formed it into a shurikan shape.

Mirai swallowed.

_Fuck. I'm calling on Ruri, okay?_

_Ruri? Are you nuts, sister? That takes even more chakra, and you know it! You wouldn't be able to move then!_

_There's no other way! Do you want to die here?_

Mirai didn't wait for her brother's response. As she ducked under a blow from a clone, she bit her finger and smoothly plunged it onto a scroll.

"Kuchiyose…!"

Feathers burst up into the air. Blue feathers, the colour of pure sapphire. Showers of them came raining down.

_Huh? _Kakashi dragged himself a little bit closer, looking at the Kuchiyose animal.

It was a blue owl, with a wingspan of about twenty feet. Right away, Kakashi realized that its feathers were… stone. Yes, they seemed as if they'd been carved from lapis lazuli. The beak and the claws were gold, and the owl's eyes were dark lime coloured.

With a piercing cry, it rose into the air, beating back Naruto's clones with its stone wings. It saw the opportunity and swooped low towards Mirai. With the last bit of her strength, she leaped onto its back, even though a clone managed to dig a kunai into her thigh. Once she managed to steady herself on the bird's back, she passed out.

The owl flew over Huyu and reached out with golden claws, snagging him and ascending too high for any bunshins to catch it.

Naruto stood panting and growling slightly as he watched the blue owl disappear. He was actually quite proud of himself; he'd been able to keep himself at only two tails this time. Still, his body was sore with chakra burns, and he was tired.

Kakashi staggered upright and pat Naruto on the shoulder.

"You did very well, Naruto." His mask creased, hinting a wide smile.

Naruto nodded, half asleep, and mumbled:

"Thanks, Kaka-sens… Zzz…"

xxx

Sakura panted, her green eyes wide. Kira was untouchable. While the Haruno had been charging around and attacking, the Sokage hardly moved as muscle. Her eyes were spooky, and Sakura was unnerved by the fact that she couldn't see where the kage was looking.

_Okay, listen up!_

_**Oh boy! Now it's gonna roll, baby!**_

_I said LISTEN! Yeesh, okay, so we fake a manoeuvre and scoot over to Sai's opponent, the Mamoru guy. __All right?_

_**Let me guess – I have to do all the work, right?**_

_Cork it!_

Sakura leaned back, some kunais grazing her cheek, and suddenly whipped around, sending a chakra laden fist speeding towards the pale-eyed Izo nin.

Kira saw and she grimaced, uttering a low hiss.

Apparently, the hiss was used as a warning between the two, and Mamoru barely managed to dodge as the Haruno flash-stepped around, throwing punches and kicks at him.

"Stupid – Izo – nins!" Sakura gasped. She would have cussed more, if not for a sudden strange pressure in the air that strapped her arms to her sides.

Mamoru swallowed and muttered:

"You can't do anything about my air jutsus. Air is everywhere – as long as there's air, I can fight. I change the density off the air and can form invisible barriers and cages. No use fighting it."

"Oh yes there is!" Sakura ground her teeth. She was thinking fast.

_**Pfft.**_Inner Sakura scowled and spat on the ground.

_Hey, that's it!_

Sakura's head wasn't restrained! She knew it was extremely unpleasant what she was about to do, but it was her only chance.

She aimed at Mamoru…and – and spat.

"AAAAAAAAH!"

Mamoru stumbled back, wiping his face, and accidently released both Konoha nins. Sai fell a good ten feet down and landed with a _thump_ in a snowbank. The pale artist was limp, breathing laboured.

Sakura rushed over to him, pouring healing energy into him. She was relieved that there were only some minor fractions in his ribs with no complications, otherwise Sai would die without and operation.

The Haruno whirled around on her heel and faced the two Izo nins. She settled into a defensive position, green eyes angry.

Kira studied her carefully, her black eyes roaming Sakura's face.

Suddenly, she lowered her head and said quietly:

"Mamoru… call it off."

"…?" Sakura stared at her in surprise.

The Izo nins would have had an easy victory – her being exhausted in body and chakra, and they being two.

Mamoru was equally surprised and turned to look at her in shock.

"… W… What? Why?"

Kira's eyes slowly raised until she was staring met emerald green orbs.

"Mamoru…" She whispered.

"I thought I'd be able to do it, but I can't."

Her teammate had a puzzled frown on his confused face.

"Why, Kira?"

The black melted away, leaving amethyst behind. Sakura narrowed her eyes cautiously.

"I can't do it, because…"

A deep breath.

"… Because I can't hurt any member of my family. Not… again."

For about the first time ever, Sakura and her Inner agreed on something, namely:

_**WTF?**_

_WTF?_

xxx

Itachi and Kisame silently moved through the woods. They were heading towards the new village, Izogakure, where their leader was waiting for them.

"Man, why couldn't it have been anywhere closer?" Kisame complained.

"…" Itachi glanced at his partner.

"Because you were ordered to." A new voice cut in.

"Yeesh, Zetsu!" Kisame complained.

"Stop jumping us like that!"

"You two are ordered to continue your way to Izo. Leader-sama won't be there, and neither will Konan, because of complications." Zetsu's lighter half said.

"So that way, you two are less likely to be killed for being late." The dark half grumbled.

"Tell leader-sama that we understood." Itachi commanded the strange plant ninja.

"Hai, Itachi-san." Both halves replied, sinking into the ground. The two remaining Akatsuki members resumed their journey.

"What a pain." Kisame groaned, starting his grumbling all over again.

The two traveled in silence for about ten minutes. Kisame got border and border as the seconds ticked by, and decided to annoy Itachi. He knew that it was undeniably dangerous, but anything was better than just running and getting bored, in his opinion. So, he commented:

"You know, the Sokage is a woman. Like, a _young_ woman."

"…?" Itachi flatly gazed at Kisame, no interest in his eyes.

"She's supposedly really pretty too…"

"Kisame." The blue nin stopped short at his partner's annoyed rebuke. Kisame suppressed a chuckle. It had worked!

"I am _not_ there to hook myself a woman. We are both there on orders, nothing else."

"Yeah, but Itachi, man, you've got to get a woman some day or another!"

Itachi didn't reply, his eyes intent on the path in front of him. Surprised, his partner looked at him from the corner of his eye. Usually, the emotionless Uchiha would have at least reacted slightly to a bold comment like that.

What Kisame didn't know was that his words hit a more or less sensitive spot, but in a way that woke a question that Itachi had tried to bury over time.

All those years ago, when Itachi had had to kill his clan, he had killed his cousin, Maiha. She had been his playmate for the longest time when they had been little. Of course, she wasn't his best friend, but still, she had been the only girl that Itachi had interacted with for a long period of time.

He could still see his cousin clearly, there, in his head. She had black eyes, like all Uchihas, and about shoulder length dark hair that always stuck up in every direction.

He knew, that if she hadn't been his cousin, he would have really liked her.

Like, in _that_ way.

But now… he just didn't have the heart to start another relationship with anybody. All he wanted to do…

… was die. Under his little brother's hand.

xxx

Location: Izogakure

xxx

Huyu stared over the top of Ruri's head at the sky. He knew that Mirai had about zero chakra left and needed rest. Wincing, he felt her exhaustion through the mental link they shared. She had recovered from her faint, and was insisting on trying to sit up.

Her brother did _not_ appreciate her efforts, especially since they were useless and even furthermore tiring.

"Mirai?" He asked out loud.

_Hai?_ Mirai's faint voice came mentally. Not good; that meant that she was too tired to even speak.

"Kira said that we should find her when we're finished… but you're too tire – "

_NONSENSE! I'm okay!_

Mirai coughed and heaved herself up so that she was propped on an elbow.

"Ruri…" She rasped.

The lapis lazuli bird banked sharply and the beats of its wings increased rapidly as her twin protested.

xxx

"Y… You… I… But… _what?_" Sakura gaped like a stranded fish, staring at Kira. The Sokage avoided eye contact.

Mamoru, too, was shocked. He swallowed and muttered:

"But I thought your family was, well…"

"…dead, yes." Kira said wearily.

"But the original family is not."

Sakura's limbs ached from her frozen position, and yet she refused to relinquish her ready pose.

"Sokage-san…" She couldn't help saying, "The Harunos don't have a branch family."

"Yes, they do."

Sakura opened her mouth to argue, but Kira cut in:

"It's not surprising that you don't know… the Seikis split off of the Haruno Clan very early. It wasn't a big deal – it only became known after the unusual kekkai genkai appeared."

Pink slashed through the air as Sakura recovered her composure and abruptly straightened up, shooting the Sokage an angry look.

"Liar." She hissed.

At once, Kira's face grew icy and hard, and Sakura almost lost her nerve.

"Liar?" The purple-eyed woman repeated darkly. "You call me, Kira Seiki, a liar?"

Black started to creep from her pupils again, and Kira closed her eyes, taking deep breaths.

Sakura glared at her.

"Yes, liar. If you truly cared so much about my family, then why did you ally Izo with Akatsuki?"

"Because I thought the Harunos didn't exist anymore!" Kira snapped, her eyes flashing open again.

"Tell me, Haruno, how many of your Clan are still alive?"

Sakura worried her lip, knowing the answer, but unwilling to say it out loud.

"Very few." She finally muttered.

"So it is not surprising that I thought you didn't exist anymore. And I _am_ sorry that I allied my village with Akatsuki… but I can't change it now. All that is in my power is to refuse to help when they attack Konoha. That's all I can do."

Mamoru, who had been forgotten for a while, stirred and said quietly:

"Mirai and Huyu are approaching, Master Sokage."

Kira looked up. Sakura followed her gaze and saw a blue bird circling high in the sky.

The Sokage motioned to the bird, and it tilted into a steep dive. Now Sakura could see that two people were on the bird. The girl was lying down, her arm limply swinging off of the owl's back.

As it landed with a _thump_, the other person, a man, stepped off.

"Kira." The man said, eyes flickering to Sakura. Clearly, he was wondering why there was still an opponent left.

"Huyu… Mirai…" Kira responded vaguely. Her eyes flickered to Sakura's emerald orbs before she looked back at the newcomers.

"What is with Mirai?" Mamoru asked worriedly.

"She's passed out from chakra overuse." Huyu replied. "That Jinchuriki was pretty vicious."

Sakura exhaled loudly, relief making her legs shake.

Kira wordlessly looked at Mirai, before turning to the blue owl.

"Ruri, take your mistress and the brother of your mistress back home. Immediately. Do you understand?"

The bird, Ruri, hooted softly, before leaping back into the sky with a rush of wings, dropping a few stone feathers.

"I advise you strongly to get back to Konoha." Kira said, turning back to Sakura. "It's not safe to linger here any longer."

Sakura gritted her teeth. Team 7's mission had failed!

"My mission is not finished yet, Master Sokage." She said through thin lips.

Kira smiled, but it was not out of amusement, and said:

"You can't complete this mission, Haruno. Face it. Izogakure won't relinquish the alliance between the Akatsuki and this village."

Before Sakura could answer, Mamoru suddenly grew transparent until he had vanished.

_Damn! That was a clone!_

Kira's smile vanished and she murmured:

"I am truly sorry. Until next time, Haruno Sakura!"

And with that, she burst into a storm of snowflakes.

_AAAH! That was a clone too!_

_**BULL SHIT! What if we'd met the real Kira when her clone's so strong already?**_

_Exactly what I think…_

Sakura stood a second longer, staring at the place where the Izo nins had disappeared, then turned and hurried to Sai. Hefting him, she grunted at his weight. About half of her chakra was gone, and her teammate seemed heavier than usual in the absence of her strength.

As healing green chakra poured from her hands, she argued with her Inner about what the Sokage had said.

_She could be lying… I don't get why she stopped the attack, though. She could have easily won!_

_**Well, it seems to me that she was telling us the truth. **_Inner Sakura grimaced.

Surprised, Sakura inquired:

_Whoa, since when have you been reasonable in my whole life?_

_**I just feel that you need to straighten out everything. When you're confused, it gives me a headache.**_

_Ah, I see… Okay, so I'm related to the Sokage of Izo. It doesn't make sense! And worse, even if my parents were still alive, Kira mentioned that almost nobody knew of the branch family!_

_**You could ask somebody who was around at that time.**_

_Oh, yeah? And who would this wonder person be?_

_**Oh, I don't know – start with Tsunade!**_

_What? But she wasn't alive at that point!_

_**She may have heard some gossip, though!**_

_Okay, okay, I see your point__. Thanks for being so non-bitchy._

_**Honey, I'd love to say 'my pleasure', but it makes me restless to be nice to you.**_

Sighing, Sakura ignored the second voice as her Inner began to babble about her being extra bitchy the next day to make up for before.

Temari was healed already – she just needed a lot of sleep.

Groaning, Sakura lifted one ninja onto each shoulder and started the steep descent of the mountain top.

If Kakashi didn't find her soon, then he was in for hell.

xxx

Location: Konoha

xxx

"**WHAT?**"

Tenten ducked a flying chair.

Tsunade screamed again and hurled a vase through the air and shrieked again:

"_Don't _tell me that _Nozomi Haruno_ is captured by _nuke-nins_!"

Mutely, Team Gai nodded. Kiba, standing outside, was thankful that he wasn't allowed in, on account of Akamaru.

"_YOU ALL ARE MISERABLE FAILURES, BELIEVE ME!" _Tsunade raged.

Lee decided to act.

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but even all of Tenten's youthfulness, Neji's breathtaking power, and me, the green beast of Konoha, couldn't have saved Sakura-chan's sibling, trapped as she is in sinister evil. I – "

"_SHUT YOUR TRAP, YOU LITTLE GAI WANNABE!"_

Stunned, Lee took her advice and shut up, before she decided to kill him.

Tsunade swallowed hard and gripped the table. Everybody heard the audible crack as the wood protested at the Godaime's monster strength.

"What the _hell_ am I going to tell my apprentice?" She groaned.

A minute passed as she just stood there, her hands gripping tighter and tighter. Her breathing came in hectic bursts.

When she looked up and started speaking again, it was low and strained, but slightly calmer.

"You, you and you," Tsunade flung an arm at the three ninjas before her, "and you, Inuzuka, are going to have to break the news to Sakura when she gets back. I'll be sure to visit your graves someday. You are dismissed – I have to go to the hospital. Neji, how badly was your cousin hurt?"

"… Badly." The Hyuuga avoided Tsunade's eyes. Highly unusual… and alarming.

Tsunade swallowed again and strode quickly out of the room brushing past Kiba outside.

Two tears stood in her brown eyes.

As she swiftly made her way to the hospital, she dabbed at her eye with the heel of her palm, because, for _some_ reason, those tears had overflowed.

xxx

**A/N**

I need you guys, everybody who's reading this, to vote.

Okay, here goes:

When Sakura sees Sasuke again, never mind when exactly, what should she do? Should she:

a) loose her cool and scream at Sasuke

b) remain icy calm

c) not say anything and try to run away

Now, combine your first vote with another one…:

1) Sakura wins! :D But she leaves him alone with his humiliation. XD

2) Sasuke wins but can't make himself kill her

3) Tie, and Sakura transports herself away

Thanks for voting on this horribly complicated vote! And if you have a different option, please put it in a review or send me a PM. Thanks a million! :)

**IMPORTANT**: I'll be away for a bit, so there won't be an update until 17th of August. :( Sorry, guys, but I'm on vacation!

- EbonyEye

PREVIEW CHAPTER 8:

_- "Did something happen?" "No."_

_- What… What if…_

_- "You will stay here and watch out for her." "WHAT?"_

_- Purple eyes sharp, she said in a clipped tone:_

"_Welcome. From your appearances, I guess that you are Hoshigaki Kisame and," her eyes flashed slightly, "… Uchiha Itachi."_


	8. Unanswered Questions

**It's Just Not Natural**

by EbonyEye

xxx

**A/N **I'm sorry for the holdup! I think I was enjoying my vacation far more than is healthy… Anyhow, the story goes on! Enjoy!

xxx

**Chapter 8**

**Unanswered Questions**

Location: Fire Country

xxx

The Leaf and Sand ninjas traveled in silence. They had gotten out of Izo as quickly as possible, and made with all haste back to Konoha.

Sakura lagged behind – something that was completely out of character for her. Her green orbs were dark and unfocused.

_It's still so hard to believe… Tsunade-shishou will __have__ to answer my questions!_

_**Hm… maybe she hates you so much she won't. **_

Sakura sighed. True to her word, her Inner was being a double pain in the ass.

Temari was supported by Kankuro, her legs still slightly wobbly. Sai was being half towed along by Naruto and Kakashi, and Gaara slowed as he realized that the pink haired kunoichi was dropping behind.

"Sakura-san." He said quietly. "You're losing the group."

Startled, she looked up and stepped up her pace immediately.

"S… Sorry, Gaara-san." She stuttered.

Seeing her silent, brooding face… Gaara knew that something was wrong.

"Did something happen?" He asked curiously.

"No." She answered too quickly, confirming Gaara's suspicions.

He didn't press the subject further, though his curiosity burned unquenched.

xxx

At the border of Fire Country, the Sand siblings said their good-byes.

"You'll have to write to me soon." Temari demanded, hugging Sakura. "Oh, and give my love to Hinata and Ino, 'kay?"

"Of course!" Sakura smiled, yet it didn't reach her eyes.

Kankuro had his puppets shake everybody's hands, causing Sakura to shudder. But she didn't protest, which was a strange note on her behaviour.

Kakashi glanced at her for the hundredth time that trip. Her emerald eyes were glazed over and thoughtful, which told him that she had retreated somewhere deep into her mind to ponder over something.

_What's wrong with her? _He wondered.

The copy-nin wasn't the only one who noticed her absent expression; Gaara gave her a curious look before he and his siblings departed.

Naruto's blue eyes went to Sakura to Kakashi to Sai. Unlike the rest of team 7, Sakura seemed… far away. And, Naruto concluded, slightly worried.

_Could this be about teme? _He thought. _No, maybe more like Nozomi…? Kami, I wish I'd know what happened in Izo while I was out!_

xxx

They reached Konoha around late afternoon, going straight to the Hokage tower for their report.

"I hope she's in a good mood." Kakashi muttered. "If not, this report is our death sentence."

His hopes were dashed when they reached Tsunade's study.

Shizune stood there, wide eyed, and told them to wait a _safe distance_ away while she knocked on the door.

"Hokage-sama, Team Kakashi is here."

The dark haired woman ducked just in time to avoid the desk lamp smashing into her head.

"**FINE! FINE, ADMIT THAT LAZY-ASS ****PERVERT! JUST TELL HIM THAT HE HAS SAKURA WITH HIM, HE'D BETTER RUN!"**

Confused, they all looked at Sakura. She shrugged, just as puzzled as they were.

Tsunade was a mess. Empty sake bottles littered her desk, and her eyes were red and bloodshot from crying.

"Shishou, what happened?" Sakura cried out, alarmed.

Her mentor's eyes zeroed in on her, her shoulders heaving.

"Sakura,… Nozomi… is… gone…" The Godaime finally choked.

xxx

Sakura's sides heaved as she dragged her feet on the way to the hospital. Tsunade had told her that Hinata had protected Nozomi with everything she had, and with consequences.

The Hyuuga had three completely shattered ribs, zero chakra, a complicated thigh bone fracture and whoever had kidnapped Nozomi had damaged Hinata's spinal cord.

She might have to spend the rest of her days in a wheelchair.

Sakura's head hung, her eyes dull and staring at the ground. She watched her feet move evenly and mechanically as she trod the path to the building that was so familiar to her.

Sai and Kakashi followed closely behind her, yet not so close that the temperamental kunoichi could land a sudden hit with her incredible strength. Naruto wasn't there; as soon as Tsunade mentioned Hinata's injuries, the Kyuubi container had leapt out of a window and taken off.

Sakura, with her superior sense of chakra, was the only one who felt the boy's alarm and dread disturb his chakra.

Her pink hair covered her eyes as she reached the hospital doors. She kept walking as she neared the door – Kakashi hurriedly opened it before Sakura decided that the fragile glass was in the way.

A nurse greeted Sakura, and was shocked almost out of her wits when the normally friendly kunoichi merely said:

"You're wasting my time. Please show me where Hinata-san is."

The copy-nin and the artist of Team 7 gave each other a look, before Kakashi turned into a burst of smoke, disappearing. Sai, thick as he was with social interacting, didn't understand the glance Kakashi had shared with him.

_Hm… according to paragraph 5, chapter 12 in the book 'Read My Eyes' says that glances are almost a short conversation__ among people. I wonder what perverted Hatake-sensei meant to say…_

The ANBU Root member belatedly realized that he should have copied the copy-nin's escape, since Sakura gave him a punch to the cheek that sent him flying when he tried to enter Hinata's room with her.

"Stay out, Sai." She said. Even _Sai_ heard the shock and bitterness in the turmoil of her voice.

Nodding, he formed a few handsigns and disappeared.

Sakura turned back to look at Hinata. The Hyuuga heiress lay on a bed of snowy colour, with equally white bedsheets covering her. Naruto sat next to her, head in his hands as he muttered something quietly.

His blue eyes widened when he looked up and saw Sakura.

Sakura braced herself for more happy-happy talk, but all she got was a dull, hopeless:

"Sakura-chan… I know this isn't allowed, but can you heal Hinata-chan here? Now?"

Emerald orbs slid shut.

"Naruto…" She murmured. That's when her Inner jumped in, making up for her long silence.

_**Baka! Baka baka baka baka BAKA! She would have DIED defending your little piece of crap! At least give her some credit for it!**_

_What's up with you? You never boss me around like __this__!_

_**Don't you get it? **_Her Inner's voice grew angry. _**Geez, you're supposed to be smart!**_

_Shut up and tell me whatever it is already!_

_**I'M – BECOMING – MORE – LIKE – YOU! **__**I'M DYING, GET IT?**_

_Wha - ?_

Naruto watched his female teammate. Strange… it seemed that all of the sudden, somebody had shocked her with electricity. What had happened?

_What d'you mean 'more like you'?_

_**Kami save us! **_Inner Sakura cried, covered her eyes. _**The girl I'm stuck to for life is clueless of her Clan's techniques!**_

_Stuck? For life? __MY__ Clan's secret?_

_**Yes, Haruno no Baka! Go get your butt to Tsunade's afterwards and ask her your questions! God, even the Izokage knew more about your Clan than you do!**_

As Inner Sakura continued to rant, Sakura stood frozen before Naruto, shock written across her face.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto finally shouted, grabbing Sakura and shaking her by the shoulders. The curiosity and irritation at the kunoichi's behaviour made him forget Hinata's suffering briefly.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, Naruto." Sakura snapped out of the discussion in her mind and said:

"Of course I'll heal Hinata-chan. Please move." Her medical instincts were up and running, and Naruto noticed this (Congrats, Naruto!) and moved aside.

Green chakra lit her hands and poured into Hinata's wounded and aching body.

xxx

Two hours later, Sakura was finished. Hinata wasn't conscious, but her breathing came easier, and she had relaxed in her sleep. Tsunade's apprentice said her good-byes to Naruto, noting with some interest that the fox-boy was almost crying. Sakura felt a tiny smile crawl up her face; the only smile that she had managed that day.

Nozomi's loss was still heavy on her mind, but she needed to know what was going on with her Inner. She had tried multiple times to speak to her other mind, yet Inner Sakura refused, shutting her eyes tightly and curling up into a tight ball.

But Sakura's plan was ruined by a wide-eyed Shizune, who emerged from Tsunade's study to tell the pink haired kunoichi that the Godaime wasn't ready to see any visitors, because one: she was drunk, and two: she loved Sakura as a second mother; therefore she loved Nozomi like an aunt or guardian.

A scream behind the door confirmed Shizune's words.

In the end, a grumpy Sakura left the Hokage tower and made her way to her apartment. She missed her sister's little chirp of 'Hello, Saki!' as she opened the door. She missed the sound of her little sister's loud breathing when she went to bed.

Sakura knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep that night.

xxx

Location: Outside of Konoha

xxx

She only heard her own, ragged, exhausted breath. Green eyes stared at her hands. Never before had Nozomi run so fast without a break. Well, she'd never run with people who had the emotions of an ice statue, either.

Team Hebi were resting. Suigetsu was dozing, propped against a tree trunk. His hands twitched as he struggled not to fall asleep. Karin was curled up in a small natural cave in the side of a huge boulder, and Juugo was no where to be seen.

Sasuke was gone. Unbeknownst to his teammates, he was actually in a clearing next to the one they were in, pacing.

He had a half formed plan in his mind how to get into Konoha without being noticed. But… he had a small, rose-haired child to take care of too. He couldn't just leave her – something inside of him simply refused to do so. Sasuke could face a hundred good ninjas without even twitching, but he couldn't simply _abandon_ a single, little girl.

Annoying, pink hair.

Sasuke started. THE Uchiha had flinched!

The pink hair… those green eyes… it reminded him too much of somebody else.

But who was _this_ little girl? He had assumed at first that she could be a distant relative of Sakura's, yet now the Uchiha realized that there was another option…

"_Leader-san, is that your kid?"_

"_Is that your kid?"_

"_Your kid?"_

What… What if…

Sasuke forced himself to cool down and say the impossible words. They came out barely above a low whisper.

"What if she's your child, _Sa-ku- ra_?"

xxx

Karin squeezed her eyes tighter shut, trying to calm her annoyance. This…_child_ was completely getting on her nerves! Sasuke was _interested_ in her. No, not like that, perverts, but the little girl had Sasuke's attention, which Karin recognized with jealousy.

Oh, how she wanted that little, stupid, annoying brat gone!

Just then, her head snapped up as she read Sasuke's chakra come rolling into the clearing, so impossibly _huge _that it was almost strangling.

"Hn. Suigetsu, Juugo, you come with me to retrieve the scroll in Konoha." The two men nodded.

"Wha – But what about me, Sasuke-kun?" Karin screeched.

"You will stay here and watch out for her." Sasuke's eyes flashed to Nozomi's hunched form not far away.

Karin's gasp of outrage broke the sudden eerie silence in the clearing.

"WHAT?" She finally screeched. Her face distorted in anger, making her even more ugly than normal.

Incredible.

Sasuke didn't even twitch as her horrible, screeching voice scraped at his eardrums, but turned and strode away.

"We leave as soon as the sun goes down." He threw over his shoulder.

Suigetsu and Juugo relaxed and the shark nin grinned. He could do with a bit of fun to entertain him.

Karin, however, visibly fumed. If she could, there would be globs of lava boiling out of her head. Her face was nearly as red as her hair.

_I am __**not**__ a babysitter! _She thought angrily. _I'll teach that little pink haired bitch!_

xxx

Location: Izogakure

xxx

Kira leaned back in her chair.

She had sent a clone and ordered Mamoru to do the same to help Pain. She knew he had been in trouble ever since the two Jinchurikis had appeared in her office.

And Kira had seen the fight from her window.

She had glowered in anger as some of the punches and blows smashed the roof tops apart, and she saw screaming citizens rush from the damaged houses, clutching a baby, or the family possessions, or whatever else was important.

And exactly this was what she had specifically warned Pain off of!

She glared angrily at the orange haired Akatsuki. Although she hated to help him after he broke his promise, she still summoned a messenger to send Mamoru, Mirai and Huyu to her.

"Okay, listen up, you three." She had announced as her teammates stood before her.

"We're going to face those Konoha and Suna nins. Mirai, Huyu, you two get that copy-nin down." She gestured out of the window at Kakashi.

"Me'n Mamoru go get the others. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Master Sokage!"

"Mamoru, make a clone – we both know you're strong enough."

"Hai, Kira-chan!"

Kira flinched.

"And _don't_ call me that!" She hissed, eyes flat black for a second.

Everything had gone according to plan, when she readied herself to strike down Sakura Haruno with one last, fatal blow.

But she couldn't.

It wasn't like her snow clone was that weak; it was just… impossible.

Through her clone, Kira could feel her own reluctance to kill another relative. She had only very few family members left, and she just _couldn't_ murder another one. She shied away from the thought of causing her family even more losses.

She was _such_ a nuisance.

So she had revealed her deep, dark secret and let Sakura Haruno alive.

Half of her, the Sokage part, couldn't understand why she'd endangered her village with letting the Haruno off.

The other half dug in her heels and flatly refused obey Kira's shaky order to send a kunai to the Haruno's heart.

The conflicting halves fought and raged at one another, and then the Sokage had lost.

Kira released her bunshin with a breathy 'Kai', and slumped into her office chair.

Had she lost her mind?

Just then, Mamoru's voice bellowed through the thick door.

"KIRA! Damn it, what was _that?_ Kira!"

"Just come it, baka!" She snapped, abruptly snapping up into a ramrod straight position.

Her teammate's hair was mussed and his eyes bugged wide.

"She's a long lost relative? Why didn't you tell me, Kira-chan?"

She sighed.

"First of all, I didn't know she existed, and secondly, don't call me Kira-chan, or you will find yourself one head shorter."

*gulp* "… Hai. But what do we do now? Konoha and Suna are going to act up!"

"I know I fucked things up!" The Sokage snapped, her amethyst eyes flaming. "You don't need to rub it in!" For a second, she felt like she had before her kekkai genkai had kicked in.

Normal. Arguing with her teammate.

"We're just going to proceed according to plan, understand? Akatsuki may not help us, but we're not helpless, you know!"

"Yeah, yeah, Miss Sokage." Mamoru muttered under his breath.

"Now, get out, before I decide to kick you out to speed things up." She retorted icily.

As soon as the door slammed shut, the noise was echoed as Kira's head connected with her desk.

She had messed up _everything_, and now there were going to be consequences.

And probably not very nice ones.

xxx

Location: Near Izogakure

xxx

"Itachi! Slow down a bit, okay?"

"…"

"Baka! Slow. The. Hell. Down."

"…"

Kisame glowered at his partner's back. _When_ would the Uchiha realize that _running_ wasn't the blue nin's thing?

Plus, he didn't like the damn snow they were running through. And, though he hated to admit it, Samahada was a pain to carry when he was floundering around already.

Okay, well, it was only Kisame charging _through_ the snow, spraying fluffy white stuff everywhere. Itachi ran so fast and light that he didn't even break through the crust.

The Uchiha ignored Kisame's complaint (and insult), instead focusing his blood red eyes on the village gates he finally saw in the distance.

Pain's orders were clear:

"_Go to Izogakure and wait there until you are ordered otherwise."_

Itachi could believe that this simple order was the hardest… because just hanging around somewhere was an incredibly bitter pill to swallow.

And it would downright _boring_.

Five minutes later, the two Akatsuki members arrived at the gate. The sentries took one look at the cloaks and hats, then let relieved sighs rise into the frosty air.

Itachi cocked one dark eyebrow. Interesting, the Sokage actually portrayed the Akatsuki as the good guys.

Izogakure was a very peaceful-looking village, the elder Uchiha mused as he surveyed his surroundings. With a bitter taste on his tongue, he added:

_Well, Konoha looked peaceful too._

And that village hadn't held onto its appearance.

The Sokage's building was dark and gloomy as the two Akatsukis mounted the steps towards the office. A shinobi met them partway, his pale blue eyes and hair giving him the expression of an ice statue. But Itachi sensed that the man was deeply concerned and confused about something, which pricked the Uchiha's interest slightly.

"Mistress Sokage is in her study. This way, please." Without waiting for an answer, the Izo nin turned and strode up a further flight of stairs.

They exchanged a glance, then followed the shinobi up the steps. He opened a pair of double doors, strode inside and bowed.

"Sokage-sama, here they are."

"Dismissed, Takeshi-san."

Itachi took in the Sokage within a second.

White, crystalline hair, dark amethyst eyes, about 27 and… a very strange chakra. It was purple, yet somehow not purple, shifting colours like her strange hair. It seemed constantly on the edge of slipping into a pitch black colour.

The Akatsuki pair nodded, rose gracefully and strode towards them.

Purple eyes sharp, she said in a clipped tone:

"Welcome. From your appearances, I guess that you are Hoshigaki Kisame and," her eyes flashed slightly, "… Uchiha Itachi."

"Hai."

"I am Seiki Kira."

After a short, awkward pause, her tone changed to hard and cold as she said:

"I hope that you do not make the same mistake as Pain-san did. I must ask again, that you do not lay a finger on any civilians or village buildings. It is not tolerated."

Kisame nodded, while Itachi kept silent as usual.

Kira relaxed a little and turned, saying:

"You two are to stay in this building. Mamoru-san will lead you to your quarters."

She snapped her fingers, and instantly, the pale-eyed shinobi walked into the room. She nodded at him and ordered:

"Mamoru, take these two to the north quarters. See to it that they are treated well."

"Hai, Sokage-sama."

Mamoru's hand itched towards his pocket, feeling the outline of his beloved book in there. But he must mind his manners until the two Akatsukis were settled, or Kira would surely kill him.

Sighing, he turned and made his way to the north quarters with the pair of 'guests' a.k.a. 'criminals' moving silently behind him.

xxx

A knock on her study's door made Kira look up, irritated.

"Yes?" She called.

The door creaked open, and a civilian boy peeked in, his large brown eyes wide.

"S… Sokage-sama…" He gulped.

Kira couldn't suppress a smile at the nervous boy and said gently.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Well… the celebration of our freedom is coming up tomorrow evening, Sokage-sama. And it wouldn't really be a party without our leader!"

Kira closed her eyes and mentally shifted through the work she still had. Yes, if she moved things around a bit…

"Tell everybody that I am coming." She said suddenly, opening her eyes again.

The little boy smiled, showing a missing front tooth and hurriedly pulled out of the study, calling:

"I'll tell _the whole village_, Sokage-sama! Till tomorrow!"

The Sokage smirked and continued to work.

Meanwhile, the little boy ran through the entire kage building, inviting everybody. He didn't notice the sign on the north wing that read: Please keep out!

Running up to the door, he rapped on it, an excited smile on his face.

When the door opened, he froze, fear immobilizing him.

A pair of vicious, swirling, red eyes scared the shit out of him. He couldn't think, he couldn't look away. All he knew was _fear_.

Itachi gazed emotionlessly at the boy in front of him, then raised a single eyebrow.

"What is it?" His deep voice spooked the boy even further.

"T… Th… The c… celebration… of… of… of… o… our… v…v…vi…village… is t…t… tom… tomorrow ev… evening, sir." The boy quavered, eyes huge.

"E… Every… Everybody is… in… in… in… invited."

Itachi continued to just stare at the boy, then said:

"Hn." And turned, sliding the door closed.

_Thump_. Outside, the little boy's knees gave out and he fell on his ass, heart beating three times faster than normal.

He knew he would have a few sleepless nights just because of those terrible eyes…

xxx

"What was that, Itachi?" Kisame called from the kitchen. Itachi could hear him raiding the refrigerator.

"Hn, there's some kind of celebration tomorrow because of Izo's freedom. We're invited."

"…" Kisame's hand froze halfway to his mouth. Slowly, he lowered it.

"Well… did leader-sama tell us _not_ to go to a party?" He finally asked. "It'll get a hell lot more boring than now, so we might as well get as much fun as possible."

The shark nin finished his sentence. Then his eyes bugged wide. He was amazed that his stony partner had actually let him finish his suggestion. Usually Itachi would icily cut him off, on his good days, or just give a 'shut-up-or-you're-sushi' look that froze Kisame's tongue in his head.

"… Aa. I guess."

Kisame stared at Itachi's back.

_I think he's gone crazy. _He thought, sweatdropping.

xxx

Location: Konoha

xxx

The village of the Hidden Leaf was silent. The moon cast its icy light Konoha, turning most colours into silver.

But something refused to shed its normal colour.

Moonlight touched the menacing red tones of the sharingan, yet couldn't coax the swirling crimson irises to change.

Sasuke crouched on a building. Getting in had been easy – Genma had had the sentry duty along with another perverted shinobi, Sasuke guessed. Genma hadn't noticed the Uchiha and his companions at all.

_Probably more interested in that girl taking a shower in her bathroom with open windows across the road. _A small voice in Sasuke's mind whispered.

Suigetsu was in his water form. If anybody had looked closely at the pool of water at the base of the building Sasuke was on, they would have noticed that it was slowly creeping forwards.

Juugo hovered on another building, shushing the two birds sitting on his shoulders.

The two shinobi of Team Hebi waited tensely for their captain to make the first move.

In a flash, the Uchiha was on the ground, striding down the street as if he owned it. His footsteps were silent and his chakra was masked.

Sasuke didn't stop until he reached the Uchiha compound. He forced back a wave of memories as he beheld the familiar walls and roads he had known as a child.

Nobody was in the compound, and Sasuke crossed the remains of the garden his mother had tended to every day.

He opened the door, listened and reached out with his chakra one more time to reassure himself that nobody was in there, then slipped inside.

Itachi's room was spotlessly neat. The bed was made, and all the drawers and doors of the closets were closed. It looked like the most innocent room in all of existence.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, then set to work.

He ransacked the room for almost an hour, without finding anything. A single drop of sweat made its way down his pale cheek. He would have to find it soon, or go back empty-handed.

Finally, Sasuke's eyes zeroed in on the pillows sitting on the bed.

Going up to the bed, he picked up the pillows, slitting them open and shaking the feathers out everywhere. There were four in all, and he had slit three.

The last pillow sat there, exactly like the other three. Red eyes narrowed as Sasuke picked it up.

To his surprise, it was slightly heavier than the rest. A spark of excitement traveled to his heart as he slit it open.

The heavy, metal box that slid out landed with a soft _thump_ on the bedcovers.

Sasuke reached out with his chakra and found a genjutsu shielding it. But it was unlike any genjutsu he'd encountered…

His eyes narrowed as he tried copying the technique, only to have his sharingan defied.

_This is kekkai genkai…?_ He wondered.

He couldn't open the box, but shoved it into his cloak nevertheless. If it was precious enough to shield with such a formidable ward, then it was valuable enough for him to take along and study it later.

There was nothing else in Itachi's room worth interest, and Sasuke departed slightly later than he had wanted to.

xxx

Sakura sat on the edge of her bed, head in her hands. She had tried sleeping – she'd even taken some sleeping pills! But absolutely _nothing_ worked, and she was still awake.

Standing up, she pulled on her favourite red kimono style dress with the Haruno Clan crest on it. The material was getting worn; she'd had this dress for a long time.

She left the building quietly, walking silently along the road. The moon cast her ivory skin into deep shadows, yet her hair turned silver-pink.

Sakura didn't know where she was going, but when she raised her head, she realized with a mild shock that just letting her feet take her somewhere was a bad idea.

She stood on the _only road that led out of Konoha_.

Sitting down on the bench she'd been found on so many years ago, she felt a wave of déjà vu.

Closing her eyes, she expanded her chakra to feel around her. Just as she was about to retreat back into herself, she paused.

She had briefly brushed another chakra signature. It was… vaguely familiar…

xxx

Sasuke walked a rapid, yet unhurried pace towards Konoha's gates. Behind him, Suigetsu whined for more details about what Sasuke had found, yet the stoic Uchiha didn't answer him.

It was then as he was deciding whether or not to tell Suigetsu to shut it that he felt another chakra signature.

It was the lightest touch ever, but he knew it anywhere.

His fists clenched – he definitely didn't want to face _that _person. Not here, and not now.

"Juugo, Suigetsu, leave the village by the eastern wall. Go."

They heard an odd note in their captain's voice as they hurriedly obeyed. Or maybe they were hasty when they saw the Uchiha's sharingan swirl into existence.

Sasuke came around a bend in the road, glimpsing _the_ stone bench. He could easily see the green chakra that pulsed softly with his sharingan.

Sakura let her legs dangle from the tree. She was watching the leaves flutter around her when she saw that she wasn't alone anymore.

_Sasuke…_

She eased herself off of the branch, landing with a muted _thump_ that could have come from a small cat landing.

Her lips were in a thin line, her wide emerald eyes that always portrayed her feeling were blank.

_Sasuke… you've grown so much… _She thought, looking at him. His posture showed defiance to her, his arms crossed coolly across his chest. His eyes blazed deep crimson and his handsome face showed no more emotion than a statue.

"What are you doing here, Sasuke, in the middle of the night?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

His face didn't change; only his lips moved.

"I believe it is I who should ask that question, Sakura."

_Oh my god, his voice! Kami, I didn't know I missed him this much! _Yet Sakura couldn't help but speculate about how he'd said her name. Flat. Dead. She meant nothing to him.

She almost lost her cool mask, but was barely able to keep it on.

"Well, Sasuke, I guess I should answer, since we'd both be standing here until the world ends. Tell me, Uchiha, do… do you know somebody named Nozomi?"

Now, at last!, she had his attention. Shock and disbelief flitted across his face, but remained deep in his eyes. Her suspicions sharpened as her childhood crush tipped his head forwards slightly, letting his onyx hair cover his eyes.

_Teme…! _She thought angrily.

xxx

**A/N **I'm afraid I made Kisame look a mite too dumb. Ah well, poor, poor Kisame…

There's something I need to say about the updates. I don't think I'll be able to publish a chapter weekly, 'cause school has started again. I suck in French, and have to study that more or I'm sunk…

Anyhow, R&R!

- EbonyEye


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